CHAPTER XI--AN URSINE HOLD-UP
The party of young people were so excited by the adventure that theywere scarcely in mind to appreciate the rugged beauty of the canyon. Theopposite wall was covered with verdure--hardy trees and shrubs foundtheir rootage in the crevices between the rocks. Some beds of moss, fardown where the spray from the river continually irrigated the thin soil,were spangled so thickly with starlike, white flowers that the patcheslooked like brocaded bedspreads.
Around the elbow in the trail--that sharp turn which had been the sceneof the all but fatal accident--the driveway broadened. Far ahead (for thecanyon was here quite straight again) they could see the arching roof ofrock, surmounted by the primeval forest, which formed the so-callednatural bridge. The river tumbled out of the darkness of the tunnel,fretted to a foaming cascade by battling with the boulders which strewedits bed under the roof-rock. The water's surface gleamed ghostly in theshadow of the arch, and before the opening the arc of a rainbow shone inthe spray.
As the girls' excitement subsided, Ruth saw this scene far ahead andcried aloud in rapture:
"Look! Oh, just look! Isn't that beautiful?"
"The waterfall," agreed her chum, "or cascade, or whatever they call it,is just a picture, Ruthie!"
"Mighty pretty," said Tom, reining in the pony beside them.
"The cavern is so black and the water is so white--like milk," criedMadge from the second carriage. "What a contrast!"
"I tell you what it looks like," added Heavy, who sat beside her. "Agreat, big chocolate cream drop that's broken and the cream oozing out.M--m!"
They all laughed at the stout girl's figure of speech, for JennieStone's mind seemed always to linger upon good things to eat, and thiscomparison was quite characteristic.
"I'd be afraid to go down under that bridge," said Helen. "It's so darkthere."
"But there's a path through the tunnel, Miss," said Jib, the Indian."And there's another path by which you can climb out on the top of thebridge. But the trail for a waggin' stops right yonder, where we camp."
This spot was a sort of cove in the wall of the canyon--perhaps half anacre in extent. There was a pretty lawn with a spring of sweet water,the overflow of which trickled away to the edge of the precipice anddashed itself to spray on the rocks fifty feet below.
They had become used to the sullen roar of the river now and did notheed its voice. This was a delightful spot for camping and when Ricardocame up with the wagon, the boys and Jib quickly erected the tent,hobbled the ponies, and built a fire in the most approved campers'fashion.
Never had a picnic luncheon tasted so good to any of the party. Themountain air had put an edge on their appetites, and Heavy performedsuch feats of mastication that Helen declared she trembled for theresult.
"Don't you trouble about me," said the stout girl. "You want to begin toworry over _my_ health when I don't eat at all. And I can't see where Ihave got so far ahead of any of the rest of you in the punishment ofthis lunch."
But afterward, when the other girls proposed to climb the rocky path tothe summit of the natural bridge, Heavy objected.
"It's injurious to take violent exercise after eating heavily," shesaid.
"I never knew the time when Heavy considered it safe to exercise," saidThe Fox, who had gradually recovered her usual manner since the runaway."The time between meals isn't long enough, in her opinion, to warrantanybody's working. Come on! let's leave her to slothful dreams."
"And blisters," added Heavy. "My shoes have hurt me for two days. Iwouldn't climb over these rocks for a farm--with a pig on't! Go on--andperspire--and tell yourselves you're having a good time. I've a book hereto read," declared the graceless and lazy stout girl.
"But aren't the boys going?" asked Ruth.
"They've started for the tunnel down there--with Jib," said Jane Ann,with a snap. "Huh! boys aren't no good, anyway."
"Your opinion may be correct; your grammar is terrible," scoffed MaryCox.
"Never you mind about my grammar, Miss Smarty!" rejoined the Westerngirl, who really couldn't forget the peril into which The Fox had runher friends so recently. "If you girls are comin' along to the top ofthe bridge, come on. Let the boys go down there, if they want to. Therocks are slippery, and they'll get sopping wet."
"There isn't any danger, is there?" queried Helen, thinking of herbrother.
"No, of course not," replied Jane Ann. "No more danger than there is upthis way," and she led the way on the path that wound up the rockyheights.
The girls were dressed in corduroy skirts and strong, laced walkingboots--a fitting costume for the climb. But had Jib been present at thecamp perhaps he would not have allowed them to start without an escort.Ricardo had to remain at the camp. This was a wild country and not evenJane Ann carried any weapon, although when the ranchman's niece rodeabout the range alone she carried a gun--and she knew how to use theweapon, too.
But they could hear the shouts of the boys, rising above the thunder ofthe river, when they left the plateau and began to climb the heights,and danger of any kind did not enter the minds of the girls. It was likepicnicking along the Lumano River, at home, only the scenery here wasgrander.
Ruth and Helen assumed the lead after a very few minutes; they were evenbetter climbers than the Western girl. But the way was steep and ruggedand it wasn't long before their chatter ceased and they saved theirbreath for the work in hand. Madge and Jane Ann came along after thechums quite pluckily; but The Fox began clamoring for rest before theyhad climbed half the distance to the top of the cliff.
"Oh, come on, Mary!" ejaculated Madge. "Don't be whining."
"I don't see anything in this," grumbled The Fox. "It's no funscrambling over these rocks. Ouch! Now I've torn my stocking."
"Aw, come on!" said Jane Ann. "You're a regular wet blanket, you are."
"There's no sense in working so hard for nothing," snapped The Fox.
"What did you start out for, Mary?" demanded Madge. "You might haveremained at the camp with Heavy."
"And she had sense."
"It's too bad _you_ haven't a little, then," observed Jane Ann, rudely.
Ruth and Helen, who really enjoyed the climb, looked down from theheights and beckoned their comrades on.
"Hurry up, Slow Pokes!" cried Ruth. "We shall certainly beat you to thetop."
"And much good may that do you!" grumbled Mary Cox. "What a silly thingto do, anyway."
"I do wish you'd go back, if you want to, Mary," declared Madge,wearily.
"She's as cross as two sticks," ejaculated Jane Ann.
"Well, why shouldn't I be cross?" demanded The Fox, quite ready toquarrel. "This place is as dull as ditch-water. I wish I hadn't comeWest at all. I'm sure, _I've_ had no fun."
"Well, you've made enough trouble, if you haven't had a good time," JaneAnn said, frankly.
"I must say you're polite to your guests," exclaimed Mary Cox,viciously.
"And I must say you're anything but polite to me," responded the ranchgirl, not at all abashed. "You're pretty near the limit, _you_ are.Somebody ought to give you a good shaking."
Ruth and Helen had gotten so far ahead because they had not wasted theirbreath. Now they were waiting for the other three who came puffing tothe shelf on which the chums rested, all three wearing frowns on theirfaces.
"For pity's sake!" gasped Helen; "what's the matter with you all?"
"I'm tired," admitted Madge, throwing herself upon the short turf.
"This girl says it's all foolishness to climb up here," said Jane Ann,pointing at The Fox.
"Oh, I want to reach the very summit, now I've started," cried Ruth.
"That's silly," declared Mary Cox.
"You're just as cross as a bear," began the Western girl, when Helensuddenly shrieked:
"Oh, _oh_! Will you look at that? _What is it?_"
Ruth had already started on. She did not wish to have any words with TheFox. A rod or more separated her from her mates. Out of an apertureheretofore unnoticed
, and between Ruth and the other girls, was thrustthe shaggy head and shoulders of a huge animal.
"A dog!" cried Madge.
"It's a wolf!" shrieked Mary Cox.
But the Western girl knew instantly what the creature was. "Run,Ruthie!" she shouted. "I'll call Jib and the boys. _It's a bear!_"
And at that moment Bruin waddled fully out of the hole--a huge, hairy,sleepy looking beast. He was between Ruth and her friends, and hisawkward body blocked the path by which they were climbing to the summitof the natural bridge.
"Wu-uh-uh-uff!" said the bear, and swung his head and huge shouldersfrom the group of four girls to the lone girl above him.
"Run, Ruth!" shrieked Helen.
Her cry seemed to startle the ursine marauder. He uttered another gruntof expostulation and started up the steep path. Nobody needed to adviseRuth to run a second time. She scrambled up the rocks with an awful fearclutching at her heart and the sound in her ears of the bear'ssabre-like claws scratching over the path!