E-text prepared by Larry B. Harrison
and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
()
The Boy Scouts
In the Rockies
OR
The Secret of the Hidden Silver Mine
By HERBERT CARTER
Author of "The Boy Scouts First Camp Fire," "The Boy Scouts
in the Blue Ridge," "The Boy Scouts on the Trail,"
"The Boy Scouts Through the Big Timber,"
"The Boy Scouts in the Maine Woods."
Copyright, 1913
By A. L. Burt Company
THE BOY SCOUTS IN THE ROCKIES.
The stubborn jack stood, with his sturdy legs braced like steel,while the taut rope told that Smithy must be
dangling at the other end.
THE BOY SCOUTS
IN THE ROCKIES
CHAPTER I.
PERILS OF THE MOUNTAIN TRAIL.
"How is the cripple crowd coming on thesedays? Hello! Step Hen, any more snake bites?Hope you're not limping with that other leg,now?"
"I should say not, Thad. But I'm always goingto believe you did a lot to keep the poison fromgetting into my system, when you sucked thatwound."
"And how about your game limb, Giraffe—wasit the right, or the left you bruised so badly on thestones when you fell?"
"The left one, Thad; but thank goodness it'shealing up just prime, now. That magic salve didthe business in great shape, I tell you."
"Allan, I notice that you still have a halt once [Page 4]in a while. That old bear trap sure took a nastygrip on your leg, didn't it, though?"
"It gave me an ugly pinch, Mr. Scout Master;and only for the fact of the springs being so weakand rusty that the owners had abandoned the trap,I might have been lame for three months. Thewitch hazel liniment you rubbed on helped a lot."
"Well, I'm glad to see you're all such a gratefullot, considering the little I was able to do foryou. It's sure a pleasure to be patrol leader andassistant scoutmaster to such a wide-awake lot ofboys as we have in the Silver Fox Patrol. Don'tyou think so, Toby Smathers?"
Thad Brewster turned a smiling face upon thesole man of the party, a genuine woods-ranger,such as the Government employs to look after thegreat forest reservations in the region of the RockyMountains, and the Coast, away up in the Northwestregion.
"Wall, it strikes me they're a purty lively lot ofscouts, all right; and lucky at that to hev a leaderas leads, and holds the reins tight over 'em. AndI'm glad myself to be guide to such a hefty bunch.That's what I'm asayin', Mr. Scout Master," theparty addressed replied.
Outside of the guide there were just eight ladsin the party; and from the fact that various partsof their attire suggested the well known khaki uniformwhich all Boy Scouts wear, the world around ...