"
"Rattlesnakes is the one drawback to this country," said the cowboy,
when they were a safe distance from the reptiles. "I don't mind wild
beasts, but I do draw the line on snakes. But there ain't near so many
as there used to be, an' some day there won't be any at all."
"After this I am going to beware of holes that look snaky," was Roger's
comment. "I think if a rattlesnake got close to me I'd be paralyzed with
fright."
As they went on, they kept their eyes open for more game, and just
before resting for dinner Dave saw some grouse high up in a tree in a
hollow. With caution they advanced, this time on horseback, and all
fired together as before. Out of the tree fluttered seven grouse, for
they had been close together and the shot had created great havoc. All
but one were dead and the seventh was quickly dispatched by Todd.
"We'll have some good eating to-night, after all," said Roger, with a
grin. He liked fowl of all kinds.
The stop for dinner was made beside a mountain spring, where the water
was icy cold and as clear as crystal. They took their time eating, thus
allowing the horses a chance to rest and to crop the nearby grass.
"We have covered about twenty miles," said the cowboy, in reply to a
question from Phil.
"Then, if we do as well this afternoon, we'll be forty miles from the
ranch by the time we camp to-night.
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