FRANK NELSON SERIES

SNOWED UP; OR, THE SPORTSMAN’S CLUB IN THE MOUNTAINS.

By HARRY CASTLEMON, AUTHOR OF “THE GUNBOAT SERIES,” “SPORTSMAN’S CLUB SERIES,” “ROCKY MOUNTAIN SERIES,” &C. THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO., PHILADELPHIA, CHICAGO, TORONTO.

FAMOUS CASTLEMON BOOKS.

Other Volumes in Preparation.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1876, by R. W. CARROLL & CO., In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

Copyright, 1904, by Charles A. Fosdick.

CONTENTS.

SNOWED UP; OR, THE SPORTSMAN’S CLUB IN THE MOUNTAINS.

CHAPTER I. A DISPUTE.

“Did you ever hear tell of sich a thing afore, Zack?”

“I never did in all my born days—never! The idee of this little snipe comin’ out here, fresh from the States, an’ tellin’ a man like me, what’s done nothin’ but guide wagon-trains acrosst the prairie fur the last ten years—the idee of his tellin’ me that I am losin’ the hul kit an’ bilin’ of you, an’ that I am doin’ it a purpose! I say it’s ridikilis, an’ I won’t stand it. Here, Sile, hold my gun till I make him chaw them words of his’n!”

“You are very much mistaken in me, my friend,” replied a calm voice, which contrasted strangely with the excited guide’s insolent tones. “I may be fresh from the States, but I have seen more of prairie life than you seem to imagine. At any rate, I know enough about it to be sure that you are not on the road to the Fort.”

This conversation took place one bright morning, between our old friend Archie Winters, and two rough looking frontiersmen, who answered to the names of Zack and Silas. The latter stood leaning on his rifle, and glaring down at the boy before him as if he meant to destroy him by the angry glances from his eyes, while Zack was rolling up his sleeves and making other demonstrations which showed a desire on his part to fight somebody. Close by Archie’s side were his two inseparable companions, Fred Craven and Eugene Gaylord, who sat in their saddles, being mounted on the same horses they had ridden from Salt Lake City to Fort Bolton. Eugene held Archie’s old horse by the bridle, while Archie’s attention was about equally divided between the two trappers and a small bay steed, with black points and a white star in his forehead, to which he was clinging with both hands. The horse bore Archie’s saddle strapped firmly on his back, and was kept in partial subjection by a rawhide lasso, which was twisted tightly about his lower jaw, the ends being passed over the animal’s neck and around the horn of the saddle to serve as a bridle. Like Roderick and King James, this horse had a history which shall be related in due time.

Around this group which we have described were gathered a dozen or more emigrants, men, women and children, who waited impatiently to hear what would be said next, and looked first at the guides and then at Archie, as if trying to discover something in their faces that would aid them in deciding between the disputants. A little distance away stood two wagons, the mules and oxen harnessed and yoked and ready to start; but there was a wide difference of opinion between Archie and the guides on a matter that was of vital importance to the emigrants, and they could not think of resuming their journey until it had been settled.

Having made his preparations for a pugilistic encounter, with as much care and deliberation as he would have exhibited had he been about to measure strength with a person of his own stature and weight, Zack once more addressed himself to Archie.

“We was all quiet an’ peaceable like till you come,” said he; “but since you dropped down amongst us all of a sudden, like you had come from the clouds, an’ without nobody’s askin’ you to come, thar’s been a rumpus goin’ on the hul time.”

“The rumpus, as you call it, was all raised by you,” returned Archie. “You’ve had a good many remarks to make about us, but we have kept silent.”

“Now you can jest toddle off about your business, if you’ve got any,” coutinued Zack, “or take what follows. I haint agoin’ to waste no time a waitin’ on you, nuther.”

“We have business,” answered Archie, “but we are in no great hurry to attend to it. The prairie is as free to us as it is to you, and when we get tired of staying here, we’re going to Fort Bolton.”

“So be we,” said Zack.

“How far do you call it from here?” asked Archie.

“A matter of thirty miles, mebbe.”

“And which way?”

“Off thar,” said Zack, extending his arm toward the north-west.

“Well, I say it is off there,” replied Archie, pointing in just the opposite direction, “and distant about three days’ journey. I ought to know, for I have just come from there.”

“What brought you so far away from the Fort?” asked one of the emigrants.

“As we told you last night, we have been following a drove of wild horses, trying to catch one of them.”

“An’ as we told you last night, that’s a likely story,” said Zack, glancing at Silas, who nodded assent. “You’re purty lookin’ fellers to ketch a wild hoss, haint you now!”

“Well, here’s the horse, any how,” returned Archie, jerking his thumb over his shoulder toward the animal he was holding. “If you don’t believe he is wild, just put yourself within reach of his heels, if you dare. We followed the drove he was in for three days and more, and that’s what brought us so far from the Fort.”