unt Olympus, an owl hooted
gloomily. Before me loomed the Rockies, strangely unreal in the
moonlight and yet very like the mountains of my imagination. I gazed,
spellbound. My dream was realized.

It was midnight when, completely exhausted, I stopped before an old log
cabin. Dogs charged out, barking furiously at the strange thing I rode
and nipping at my legs; but I was too weary to remember distinctly even
now what happened. I must have tumbled off my wheel for I learned
afterward that I was picked up and put to bed; but for hours I tossed
about, my body racked with pain, my thoughts jumbled. But boys must
sleep, and I slept at last.

Next morning, pushing the wheel slowly, I headed for the most remote
ranch in the region, that lay at the foot of Long's Peak. Progress was
slow and painful for my body was stiff and sore; the road I followed
wound upward, climbing steadily to higher altitude. Frequently I
halted to rest, and spent my time of respite searching the mountains
with eager, appraising eyes, planning explorations among them. Toward
noon I came to the ranch I sought, located nine miles from the nearest
neighbor, at nine thousand feet altitude, and surrounded by rugged
mountains. Above it rose Long's Peak, up and up into the clouds, to
more than fourteen thousand feet. The rancher was the Reverend E. J.
Lamb, one of the early settlers of Estes Park. The Parson, as he was
known, was more than six feet tall, straight as a lodge-pole pine
physically--and even more so spiritually. He wore a long, flowing
beard, rose habitually and unprotestingly at four in the morning--a man
of diverse talents and eccentricities.

CHAPTER TWO

GETTING ACQUAINTED WITH WILD COUNTRY AND ANIMALS

Parson Lamb's ranch consisted of a fenced garden tract surrounded on
every side for miles by high mountains that shut it in. There was
heavy forest on the slopes above the ranch; and out of these came many
lively little streams that were almost as cold as their parent
snowbanks.

I hoarded my few remaining dollars. The Parson gave me room and board,
in return for which I helped about the place, doing various chores,
such as wood-splitting and clearing land for more garden, and
occasionally going the nine miles to the village for the mail. My work
took only a small part of my time, leaving me free to explore the
near-by region, with its deep, evergreen forests, and the wild animals
which lived in them.

Many were