donkey and plug him afore you
found out the mistake, which the same wouldn't be such a mistake after
all."

The boys could well afford to laugh at the pleasantry of the man who, it
was evident, felt a partiality for them. He added, more seriously:

"You'd have more show to shoot game if you parted, but I'd not advise
you to do it till after you've hunted for some days together. It's
mighty easy for younkers like you to git lost in these mountains. You
must keep your bearings, so it won't be any trouble fur you to find your
way back to this spot when it's dark. If you happen to catch sight of
any game, try to not let it see you till you git a fair shot at it; and
there ain't much good in wounding a critter in these parts, fur it's
sure to git away from you."

After some further instructions, Hank bade his young friends good-by and
left them. He strode off in the direction of the trail over which they
had come to reach this interesting spot in the mountains, and
disappeared without once looking back to see what they were doing.

It was odd thus to be left alone in this wild region, and the chums
looked in each other's face with smiles. It certainly was a curious
experience to be set down in one of the greatest mountain spurs of the
West, and to be told that now they must take care of themselves. It was
like being cast into deep water and ordered to choose between swimming
and drowning.

"It's just as well," said Jack, "or he wouldn't have done it. Surely the
V. W. W. ought to be able to take care of ourselves, with our repeaters
and pistols. There's nothing to be feared from wild animals, or he would
have warned us."

"It strikes me that the most important thing to do is to keep our
bearings, for if we should happen to lose our way it would go hard with
us."

"We took care to bring spy-glasses, as well as everything else that we
thought we were likely to need, but forgot about a compass, which may be
worth all the rest."

"Well, we must be careful not to stray too far until we become familiar
with the country. Let's not delay our start."

The plateau where their ponies were cropping the grass was several acres
in extent, nearly half of it sloping abruptly; but the grass was
abundant enough to furnish the animals with all they could need, no
matter how long they stayed, since it had plenty of opportunity to renew
itself.

Side by side the boys moved across the space, the ponies not raising
their heads to look