e Jim promised us, "is an old shack that I
fixed up seven years ago. We can all make out to get in it."
Over the next ridge, therefore, we slipped and slid, thanking the god
of luck for each ten feet gained. It was growing cold. The cliffs and
palisades near at hand showed dimly behind the falling rain; beyond
them waved and eddied the storm mists through which the mountains
revealed and concealed proportions exaggerated into unearthly grandeur.
Deep in the clefts of the box canons the streams were filling. The
roar of their rapids echoed from innumerable precipices. A soft swish
of water usurped the world of sound.
Nothing more uncomfortable or more magnificent could be imagined. We
rode shivering. Each said to himself, "I can stand this--right now--at
the present moment. Very well; I will do so, and I will refuse to look
forward even five minutes to what I may have to stand," which is the
true philosophy of tough times and the only effective way to endure
discomfort.
By luck we reached the bottom of that canon without a fall. It was
wide, well grown with oak trees, and belly deep in rich horse feed--an
ideal place to camp were it not for the fact that a thin sheet of water
a quarter of an inch deep was flowing over the entire surface of the
ground. We spurred on desperately, thinking of a warm fire and a
chance to steam.
The roof of the shack had fallen in, and the floor was six inches deep
in adobe mud.
We did not dismount--that would have wet our saddles--but sat on our
horses taking in the details. Finally Uncle Jim came to the front with
a suggestion.
"I know of a cave," said he, "close under a butte. It's a big cave,
but it has such a steep floor that I'm not sure as we could stay in it;
and it's back the other side of that ridge."
"I don't know how the ridge is to get back over--it was slippery enough
coming this way--and the cave may shoot us out into space, but I'd like
to LOOK at a dry place anyway," replied the Cattleman.
We all felt the same about it, so back over the ridge we went. About
half way down the other side Uncle Jim turned sharp to the right, and
as the "hog back" dropped behind us, we found ourselves out on the
steep side of a mountain, the perpendicular cliff over us to the right,
the river roaring savagely far down below our left, and sheets of water
glazing the footing we could find among the boulders and debris.
Hardly could the ponies keep from slipping side
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