Girl Scouts in the Rockies

“I had thought of doing that, but the point at issue now seems Wyoming ‘to be or not to be?’”

“That was just settled, as far as Uncle and I are concerned,” added Mrs. Vernon, hastily. “It’s ‘not to be’ because I swore solemnly that these girls would be home before Labor Day if they were permitted to take this trip. So home we go in time to begin school the first day of the Fall term.”

“Dear me! It looks as if Verny had the wire-pulling this time!” sighed Joan, in such a tone that every one laughed.

“And of course where she goes, I have to follow!” said Ruth.

“Yes, sort of a ‘Ruth and Naomi’ proposition,” retorted Julie.

This decision reached, without further resistance from the scouts, they retired for the night with the plan agreed upon to leave Steamboat Springs in the morning and start for the Park Range of the Divide.

The packs had been well filled for the new venture in the mountains, and having breakfasted royally early in the morning, the tourists started out on the trail. The horses had had such a good rest and the mules were so frisky again, that the line of riders made splendid time from Steamboat Springs to the hills.

They had climbed up one mountain and down the other side, then the next one, and then another, until Tally called a halt for something to eat. It was long past noon, and the horses were hungry, too. They were very near the summit of one of the lower ranges of mountains, and Mr. Gilroy suggested that they go on to the top and there rest and eat.

“And look out for a stream of water which is palatable for use,” added Mr. Vernon.

As they rode to the summit of the mountain, the scouts conversed with Mr. Gilroy on various matters. But the thing that seemed to impress them most, was the fact that here they were back in the same mountains, and yet every day added new scenes and delights to the tour.

“It really doesn’t seem as if we had ever been in one of these mountains before, because every step brings out new wonders,” remarked Mrs. Vernon, as they all neared the top of the peak they had been ascending.

The sound of falling water now attracted Tally’s attention, and he broke into the heavy undergrowth to locate the stream. This done, he came back and reported that he had found a fine place for the dinner.

They all dismounted at the spot, and the two men started downstream to fish, while the guides assigned various tasks to the different members of the party. Then, when the scouts had finished their work and the men were not yet back from fishing, they climbed to a crag of rock whence they expected to have a fine view.

“Well, did you ever!” exclaimed Ruth, the first to reach the top of the crag.

“What a queer fog for a mountainside!” was Julie’s reply.

The other scouts now crowded up to see what caused these remarks, and as they gazed down upon a thick mantle of yellow, one of the girls called to Mrs. Vernon. She hastily climbed up beside them and looked as perplexed as her charges.

“Tally,” called she, turning to beckon the Indian, “see if this is smoke, will you?”

“Him smoke!” affirmed Tally, the moment he saw the blanket beneath them.

“What! A fire in the forest?” cried several of the girls.

“Then we can’t go through, can we?” asked Julie.

“Mebbe. Us wait and see,” returned Tally. “But scout get camera ready dis time. Fine picksher pooty soon when an’mals run f’om fire.”

“Verny, get the camera! Hurry up!” exclaimed the scouts, while Tally returned to his cooking.

His indifference to the fire that enveloped the forest tended to allay any fears they might have had. So they sat and watched the consuming flames as they swept across the forest and everywhere destroyed the fine timber. Unfortunately, the fire started at the base of the mountain so it quickly spread upward; had it begun at the top it would have burned itself out slowly for lack of fuel above where the draught always blows it.

Joan now leaned forward, and cried, “Look, quick!”

The scouts turned to gaze in the direction she pointed, and saw a number of beavers crossing a small park in order to reach a stream that flowed through the clearing. Immediately after the colony of beavers came a few deer, stopping now and then to turn and stare wonderingly at the heat that caused them such discomfort.

Then, to the amazement of the scouts, a large bear followed upon the heels of the deer, but he had no thought now of making a meal of venison. He seemed anxious only to reach a place where smoke and fire would not annoy him. Now and then the girls saw him stop, return a few paces and sound a queer growl. Then they saw the cause of this action.

A fat little cub finally ran out from the thick blanket of smoke, and hurried after its mother. When it came up to the old bear, it jumped about gleefully, never dreaming of the danger they were fleeing from. But the she-bear evidently thought this was no time for unseemly play, and gave the cub a smart cuff over the ear. The little fellow rolled over with the force of the slap, but then ran along beside his mother in meek submission to authority.

Tally now joined them again on the crag, and when the scouts had told of the bear, Ruth added, “But there are no birds escaping, Tally.”

“Dem gone long go. Fire drive dem firs’.”

“I’m glad of that, but just think of all the fledglings that can’t fly and escape,” said Betty.

“Let’s think of something pleasanter,” retorted Julie.

“Yes, let’s think of dinner that Tally says is waiting,” added Anne, laughingly.

As they sat down to dine, the scouts saw Omney sitting up on their former post of observation. As they wanted to ride on as soon as possible, one of the scouts asked why the guide didn’t eat his dinner, too.

“Him watch if fire jump. Him kin eat dere as here.”

“The fire is burning the other way, Tally,” said Julie.

“Mebbe him jump back, if wind change. So Omney watch.”

“If it blows this way, what must we do?” asked the Captain.

“Ride back trail us come. An’ ride fas’, too.”

But the fire kept on burning its way in the direction it began to go, and after a long rest on the crags to permit the pall of smoke to be blown away, the guides led the way down the slope. All the down-timber had been burned to ash which was still hot in spots. So the horses picked their way between these heaps. Every vestige of brush, all vegetation, and living creatures were gone. Charred tree trunks showed where the flames had licked up the bark to get at the pine branches overhead, and there, high above the heads of the riders, the fire still raged through the resinous tops.

“It’s a Sodom and Gomorrah for desolation, isn’t it?” said Julie.

In all the fire-swept district the scouts saw not one charred body of animals that live in the woods. A coyote lay at the edge of the area, dead from the blow of an animal with sharp claws, but that had happened after the fire. Julie thought the bear probably did it because the horrid little coyote tried to get a bite of fat little cub.

“But see all the poor, poor trees,” sighed Betty.

“Yes, these fires destroy more timber than all other forces put together,” returned Mr. Gilroy. “Because of the resinous matter in pine or spruce, they burn quicker and make a hotter fire than other trees. But fortunately for future forests, the flames never can reach the roots and seedlings buried under ground, so these shortly sprout up and start new timber.

“It is not often that a fire sweeps over the same area again for centuries, unless some fool tenderfoot leaves a campfire burning, or shakes the hot ashes from a pipe.”

They all rode forward as quickly as possible, for night was coming on apace, and every one was anxious to get out of the burnt district before dark. So they pitched camp as soon as they got beyond the fire line.

That night, flares like torches shot up from many of the standing trees on the hillside, and they continued burning for several days after the under fire had passed along. The light from these treetops cast weird shadows upon the camp.

“I never want to see another forest-fire,” declared Joan, as she turned her face away from these flickering glares.

“None of us do, but as long as there was a fire, we are glad to have seen it,” replied Julie.

“And I’m glad it was a little one,” added the Captain.

“You wouldn’t say that was a little fire, would you?” asked several of the scouts.