we ought to raise the
Hole pretty soon. I'd say off to the right a little now, wouldn't you,
Billy, till we raised the Hole for sure?"

Billy nodded, and presently set out ahead. His practiced eye found a way
through the hard going until at last they stood, at the left and above
the stream's entrance into a roughly circular little depression,
surrounded by a broken rim of high peaks.

"Here she is, fellows!" exclaimed Uncle Dick. "This is what we've been
looking for! Yonder's the thread of the water, headed for New Orleans
and the last jetty of the Mississippi. What's your pleasure now?"

"Well, sir," said Rob, who had for some time been afoot, leading his own
horse and driving the pack horse ahead, "why not throw off here and
finish her on foot, to the clean head, where Mrs. Culver left her tin
plate? Here's a trickle of water and enough wood for fire, and the
horses can get enough feed to last them for one night."

"All right," said Uncle Dick. "It's all in plain sight and we can't lose
our horses, especially if we halter them all tight till we get back."

They now all dismounted and made their animals fast to the trees and
stout bushes, first unlashing the pack.

"Good work, Billy!" said Rob, as he helped cast off the lash rope. "She
hasn't slipped an inch."

"More'n I can say," rejoined Billy. "I slipped a good many times, coming
up, and barked my shins more'n an inch, I'm thinking."

"Lead off, Jess," said Uncle Dick, as they stood ready for the last
march. "No, don't leave your coat; it will soon be cold, and it is
always cold in the mountains when you stop walking. And you all have
your match boxes?"

"Why, Uncle Dick," expostulated Jesse, "it's just over there, and we
won't need any fire there, for we're coming right back."

"But, Jesse, haven't I told you always in new country to travel with
matches and a hatchet, or at least a knife? No man can tell when he may
get hurt or lost in mountain work, and then a fire is his first need.
It's all right to know how to make a fire by friction, Indian way, but
you can't always do that, and matches are surer and quicker. Never leave
them."

They set out, their leader now in advance, Billy bringing up the rear.
Skirting the edge of the marshlike depression which acted as a holding
cup for the upper snows, they at last headed it and caught the ultimate
trickle that came in beyond it. This, following the example of their
late hostess, they rapidly ascended, unti