ty for a few days or weeks. There is a fine lake at the head
of the canyon, a boat house, and a good supply of boats, tents,
and almost everything needed for camp life."

"Have there been any camping parties yet?" asked Houston.

"Not yet," replied Lyle. "It is too early; they usually begin coming
in July; we are likely to have snow-storms out here in the mountains
yet."

"Snow-storms!" they all exclaimed; "What!" said Miss Gladden, "after
such warm weather as this?"

"Oh, yes," said Lyle, "this is only the early warm weather we always
have in May, but it will be much colder again before summer really
begins in earnest; though the weather is never so severe here as in
the gulches farther up the mountains."

"It seems to me," said Rutherford, "I've heard of the greatest number
of 'gulches' out here, and some of them have the most remarkable
names; very original, certainly."

"Their names are mostly indicative of their early history," Lyle
answered; "there are a number of them in this vicinity,--Last Chance
gulch, Poor Man's gulch, Lucky gulch, Bloody gulch, and so on."

"Has this gulch where we are, any such euphonious title?" inquired
Miss Gladden.

"This one has two names, equally euphonious and equally historical; it
is now called Spotted Horse gulch, but years since it was known as
Dead Man's gulch."

"That sounds cheerful!" commented Miss Gladden.

"Is there a ghost story connected with the gulch, Miss Maverick?"
inquired Houston.

"Yes," said Lyle, "several of them, for the miners are mostly very
superstitious. Years ago, when there were no well developed mines
here, only a few prospects, a man who had just sold one of the
properties, was murdered for his money, about half way between here
and the mines, where the road is so narrow and passes under the
overhanging rocks. He rode a spotted horse, and from the indications
when he was found a few days after, he must have made a desperate
fight, for both he and the horse were shot several times. Ever since,
it has been said that the spotted horse goes up and down the gulch at
night, sometimes alone, and sometimes with his rider, and so the gulch
received its name."

"Is that story still believed here?" asked Houston.

"More or less," replied Lyle. "There is just enough faith in it, that,
excepting Jack," and she nodded slightly to Miss Gladden, "there is
not a miner in camp who could be hired to pass through that part of
the gulch at midnight, for fea