CHAPTER II.
THE TORRENT.
Vacation time had rolled around once more at Stonefell College, whichaccounts for our finding Professor Wintergreen, Ralph Stetson, andthe latter’s chums at this isolated spot in the heart of the CanadianRockies. Readers of former volumes of this series will at once recallthe eccentric professor and his young companion Ralph. Harry Ware andPercy Simmons, however, we have not met before. Jack Merrill and WaltPhelps, the two young ranchmen who shared Ralph’s adventure on theMexican border, could not be with him on the present vacation, bothboys being required at their western homes.
So it had come about that when Professor Wintergreen received acommission to hunt specimens in the Canadian Rockies, Ralph jumped atthe chance to accompany him. His father, the railroad magnate, andRalph’s mother had planned a trip to Europe, but the boy, being giventhe choice of the Rocky Mountain expedition or the trip across theAtlantic, had, with his characteristic love of adventure, chosen theformer without hesitation. His mother grieved rather over this, but hisfather approved. “King-pin Stetson,” as Wall Street knew the dignifiedrailroad magnate, approved of boys roughing it. He had seen how muchgood Ralph’s western experiences had done the boy. His shoulders hadbroadened, his muscles hardened, and his eyes grown brighter duringhis strenuous times along the border. Not less noteworthy had beenhis mental broadening. From an indolent attitude toward studies, acondition caused, perhaps, by his former rather delicate health,Ralph’s appetite for learning had become as robust as the rest of him.
There is no space here to detail all that had happened during Ralph’svacation on the Mexican border. But briefly, as told in “The BorderBoys on the Trail,” it included the exciting experiences attendant uponthe capture of his chums and himself by a border bandit, and theirsharing many perils and adventures on both sides of the frontier. Inthe second volume, called “The Border Boys Across the Frontier,” theboys discovered the Haunted Mesa, and stumbled by the merest accidentupon a subterranean river. The finding of this latter plunged them intoa series of accidents and thrilling adventures, exciting beyond theirwildest dreams. It is no laughing matter to be captured and suspectedas spies by Mexican revolutionists, as the boys found out. But theymanaged to stop the smuggling of arms across the Border, as readers ofthat volume know.
“The Border Boys with the Mexican Rangers” showed how courage andskill may be more than a match for villainy and duplicity. With the“Rurales” the boys lived a life brimming to the full with the sort ofexperiences they had grown to love. The finding of a hidden mine, too,enriched them all and gave each lad an independent bank account of nomean dimension. The following book, which was entitled “The Border Boyswith the Texas Rangers,” found the three lads sharing the perils andhardships of the body that has done so much to keep law and order in amuch vexed region. Brave, resourceful, and skillful, as their formerexperiences had trained them to be, the boys found full scope for alltheir faculties with the Rangers. A band of cattle thieves made troublefor them, and Jack Merrill’s climb out of the Hidden Valley furnishedthe most thrilling experience of his life.
Dearly would Ralph have loved to share with his former companions theexciting times which he was sure lay ahead of him in the CanadianRockies. But it was not to be, and so, when young Ware and PercySimmons both begged to be “let off” from Bar Harbor and Newport,Professor Wintergreen had, on their parents’ request, decided to allowthem to come along. The professor’s interests in the Canadian Rockieswere purely scientific. His duty was to collect specimens of minerals,and also of animal life, for one of the best known scientific bodies inthe east. Ralph, with his knowledge of hunting and woodcraft, was to berelied upon as a valuable aide. Young Ware and Percy Simmons were moreor less Tenderfeet, though both had been camping before.
When Ralph had finished relating Jimmie’s story to the others, theprofessor said:
“I’ll talk to the lad myself. If he proves all that he appears to befrom your description, Ralph, we might manage to use him. A boy willingto make himself useful around camp might come in handy.”
So the professor stalked off on his long legs to interview Jimmie, whoviewed his approach with awe, while the boys stood in a chatteringgroup about the pile of baggage. It was to be remarked that most of itbore the initials H. D. Ware, of which more anon.
“Wonder what’s become of that guide and the ponies?” spoke up Ralph,while the Professor interrogated the awe-struck Jimmie.
“Don’t know,” responded Hardware, gazing at a dusty track that wounditself up the cliff back of the station for a few yards, and was thenlost around a scrap of rock that glittered with “fool’s-gold.” “Oughtto be here by now, though.”
“Fiddling fish,” struck in Persimmons at this moment, “there ought tobe trout in that stream below there, boys. I’m going down to have alook.”
“All right. We’ll wait for you and give you a hail when the ponies showup. Look out you don’t fall in, though. Those rocks look slippery wherethe water has dashed over them,” warned Ralph.
“I’m all right,” responded Persimmons airily, and he set out,clambering down the rocky path leading to the brink of the foaming,brown torrent that roared through Pine Pass.
Shortly afterward, the Professor came back with his arm on Jimmie’sshoulder. The man of science, childlike in some things and absorbedin study for the most part, was yet a fairly accurate reader of humannature.
“I’ve been talking to Jimmie, boys,” he said, as he approached, “andhe’ll do. He’s been officially engaged as general assistant to ourguide with the Wintergreen expedition.”
“Good for you, Jimmie,” smiled Ralph, “and so now your troubles are atan end for a time, anyhow.”
The eyes of the waif filled with tears.
“I dunno jes how ter thank you, boss,” he said, addressing all of them,“but I kin promise you that I’ll make good.”
“Sure of that,” said the Professor kindly, “but I can’t make out whyyou won’t tell us what brought you to such an out-of-the-way, not tosay remote, part of the world as this.”
“I’d tell yer if I could; honest I would, boss,” spoke Jimmie;“but--but I can’t jes’ yet. Some time maybe----”
The lad broke off, and once more his wistful eyes sought the distantpeaks.
“Is them the Selkirks over yonder?” he asked presently.
“Yes; those far peaks are,” said the Professor, also gazing toward thegiant ranges in the distance whose crests glimmered with the cold gleamof never-melting snow, “those are the Selkirks.”
“Goin’ that way?” asked Jimmie, his eyes still riveted on the far-flungranges.
“Yes; we hope to penetrate as far as that. Why?”
“Oh, nuttin’. I hoped you was, that’s all.”
A smile played over Ralph’s lips. He was about to ask Jimmie somebantering question about what he, the New York waif, expected to findin the distant mountains, but at that instant there came a piercing cry.
“Help! Guzzling grasshoppers! H-e-l-p!”
“Gracious! It’s Persimmons!” cried Ralph, an alarmed look coming overhis countenance. Well did he know his friend’s capacity for gettinginto trouble.
“Run, boys, run! He must be in a serious predicament!” cried theProfessor, as the cry came once more.
At top speed they ran toward the end of the platform and the rocky pathleading to the thundering mountain torrent.
“If he’s fallen in that creek, he’s a goner!” shouted the stationagent, rushing out of the depot. “The falls are right below, and he’llbe swept into them!”
The Border Boys in the Canadian Rockies Page 3
