MONTRESOR'S CLAIM is JUSTIFIED

Polly turned to place the nuggets in the pannier and almost collided with Noddy.

"Hello, darling! What do you want—eh?" said she, patting the burro's head.

Noddy continued to gaze wistfully at her mistress and Polly said:
"Anne, did you feed the burros and horses?"

"Yes, just as you told me to."

"And make the beds?"

"Yes, everything."

Then Noddy ambled over to a pan of dirty snow water, in which the explorers had washed their blackened faces. She would have to drink it, if her mistress couldn't understand what she needed!

"Oh, you Noddy! Is that what you want?" laughed Polly, taking the pan and running out to the ledge to fill it with clean snow. This she brought back and melted to provide drink for the burro.

"Did your thoughtless foster-mother forget a drink for her little Noddy!" crooned Polly, placing the pan for the thirsty burro. "After all that hard climbing and 'first-aid,' too!"

The other girls laughed at the wise little burro and her doting mistress, but Polly turned and said: "It's lucky Noddy reminded me! We must water the horses well to-night if we want them in good shape for to-morrow."

So Eleanor and Polly gave drink to the thirsty animals while Anne took what was supposed to be a chocolate cake from the bottom of the pannier. It had been so shaken up during transit that the paper felt sticky.

While they all watched her open the bundle, Noddy went back to her finger-stall to sleep. Several wrappings of paper were unwound and finally Anne took forth the surprise Sary had mentioned in the morning.

"Why! It's a lemon custard pie! Of all things!" cried Barbara.

"In the tin dish just as it came from the oven!" added Eleanor, laughing.

"Not quite like it was when it came from the oven, for such a shaken up mess of meringue and custard we never had at our table!" laughed Polly, seeing the condition of the pie from the shaking and falling it had had when Choko went over the cliff.

"Any one want a slab?" asked Anne, laughing also.

"No, thanks! Maybe, if I was famished, I'd eat the crust, but it doesn't appeal to me now!" said Polly.

"Well, I say, keep it until to-morrow! We may be glad to eat it in the morning if we are very hungry! It won't hurt to save it, anyway!" said sensible Eleanor.

So Anne sat the pie-plate down where she was, intending to put it on the ledge when she got up from supper.

"Reckon I'll put some more pine on the fires!" said Polly, seeing the flames were dying down.

She had raked up and replenished one fire, and was attending to the other when a blood-curdling cry came from the edge of the cliff, causing Polly to jump back and clutch at Anne's arm.

"Mercy! How that frightened me!" said Polly, trying to laugh her fears away.

The other girls were trembling too, and Anne said, "It was a wolf, wasn't it?"

"No, it was the cry of a panther! They wait and wait in quiet for a long time to get a chance at their prey, then if something interferes, they make that awful cry!"

"Oh, Polly! Can he get in, do you think?" wailed Barbara.

"I reckon not! But weren't we lucky to have all that pine for the fires! It's the best thing to keep him away!" said Polly, creeping out again to see if both fires were doing their duty.

Another howl reached the girls, and Eleanor said in a shaky voice, "He won't jump over the fires, will he, Polly?"

"No, smoke and sparks frighten wild beasts from the vicinity. They know from instinct that forest fires kill and they are wary of them. But they haven't the sense to know that a man-made fire is built on purpose to keep them away!"

"It must be awful late, Polly! If you think everything is safe, suppose we go to bed," Anne suggested after a long interval unbroken by any howls.

"All right! Let Bob and Nolla take the last two beds, while you and I take these in front. I'll use this one where I can watch the ledge going up to the slope. If I see anything suspicious, I'll shoot!" said Polly, examining the rifle and standing it by the side of the green-bough bed.

"For comfort's sake, girls, unbutton your clothes and remove your shoes. They can be dried by the fires to-night so they will feel better in the morning," advised Anne.

The pine fires were burning beautifully, and Anne, completely tired out, was soon asleep. Barbara and Eleanor had succumbed to weariness the moment they rolled over on the beds. But Polly, tired and fatigued, too, knew that some one must keep the fires going all night, so she merely reclined on the pine-bough bed and started up at every sound or crackle of the fires. She piled pine upon them all night through until the first faint gleams of dawn, and then there was no more wood on hand to use.

She worried over the fact that the pine had given out and just as she turned from the fires, having deposited the last small kindlings she had found lying about, she heard the yelping of the mountain-lion and the deep growl of a grizzly bear.

She ran and caught up the rifle, planning to shoot up at the cliff in a venture to frighten them away. She aimed, pulled the trigger, and the rifle-shot rang out making the echoes roar and roll through the chasm as if an army was shooting.

The three girls who had been sleeping, jumped out of the spruce beds and screamed with fright. Barbara ran madly over the ground, back and forth, not certain where to hide. Eleanor stood shivering and Anne rushed over to ask Polly what had happened. Polly explained in a whisper, and Eleanor, as in a trance, watched her sister running about with something that seemed to cleave to her foot closer than a porous-plaster. Finally, Eleanor came to her senses and ran over to keep Barbara from rolling under the burros for hiding.

"For the love of Mike! What's all over your foot?" cried Eleanor, dragging Barbara out from the "finger-stall" to exhibit her foot to the other girls.

At sound of the unexpected shot, Barbara had jumped up frantically and darted hither and thither, taking little heed of where she ran. Now, as her companions gazed at that foot exposed by Eleanor, they all laughed hysterically while Anne shouted:

"Oh, our custard pie!"

And sure enough. Lemon meringue clung tenaciously to as much of a nicely-formed foot and lower limb as it possibly could. In spite of the fears over wild animals, the adventurers had to laugh at the sight.

"How will I ever get it off?" wailed Barbara, when she realized how sticky the custard was.

"Rather ask: 'How shall we dispense with our breakfast?'" retorted Anne.

But another mad howl from without now made the horses cry and quiver with dread, while the girls blanched in fear. Polly had not told them that the wood was used up, and now Anne ran to carry an extra armful of pine to replenish the fires. When she discovered the truth of the situation, she slowly turned and exchanged a meaning look with Polly.

But Polly now bent suddenly forward and intently eyed something she saw on the verge of the ledge above. She kept her eyes focused there, and carefully felt for and caught up her rifle. She silently lifted it, took aim, and fired!

A gleam of red and a spurt of blue came from the mouth of the gun even as the sharp report cracked the echoes in the gully. Instantly following the shot, a wild howling as of fifty beasts fighting, made Polly shoot again. Snarls and yelps followed, until Polly heard the clamor grow fainter until all was quiet once more.

"Well, girls! As long as we are fully awake, suppose we forage for breakfast and make an early start!" said Anne.

"Can we get away, do you think, Polly?" asked Eleanor.

"Yes, it's a clear morning and it doesn't take long for the snow to melt, once it gets started!" replied Polly.

"Have you enough ammunition to load again in case of need?" questioned
Anne.

"Yes, I always look after that! But I was wondering what we can have for breakfast?"

"Ha! Leave that to the cook!" laughed Anne, going to the ledge and reaching up behind a crevice in the rocky wall. She brought forth one of the small fish spared from the night before.

"Good for you, Anne! If you could only dig up some sandwiches as readily!" laughed Polly.

"Maybe I can do that too, if you will look after the horses and burros!" said Anne, taking a small newspaper bundle from behind her spruce bed.

When opened, it showed that Anne had stolen some of the oats from the feed. This she rolled between two stones until it was crushed. Then she told Eleanor to pick out as many of the husks as possible.

"She's going to give us Rolled Oats, as I live!" laughed Eleanor.

Polly smiled for she was surprised to find Anne could prepare a feast in the wilderness; and soon the oatmeal was cooking beside the fish-pan.

"How can you girls enjoy that awful stuff without sugar or cream?" asked Barbara, plaintively.

"We're eating ours without a grumble, but I notice, you are also eating yours and doing all the complaining!" retorted Eleanor.

"I have to eat it to keep from starving, still I can't enjoy it as you seem to, Nolla. I declare, you seem to be getting awfully common in your tastes."

"Huh! Show me a selection of food for breakfast!" laughed Eleanor, smacking her lips over the last spoonful of oats.

"What shall we do about feeding the animals?" asked Eleanor, as they got up from the ground to pack up the pans and other stuff waiting to be taken back home.

"We'll stop at the first good Park and let them graze for an hour or two. Then a good drink from a stream will fix them all right!" said Polly, glancing at Noddy, who had come from her stall and stood looking sleepily at the girls.

"Doesn't Noddy look for all the world like a sleepy child who has to get up for school, but who hates to be disturbed!" laughed Anne, as Noddy's tousled head bobbed up and down while she sniffed the air redolent with oatmeal.

Satisfied that something was cooking for her breakfast, Noddy ran over and nozzled at the girls, who laughed and tried to push her cold nose away.

The other burros and horses came out then, and Polly said, "It makes me feel selfish to eat their oats but then they can eat grass in the park and we can't!"

"Girls! Aren't you going to have another look at the gold-mine before you leave here?" asked Barbara.

"What for? It won't do us any good and only waste time," replied Polly.

"Maybe you can find some more nuggets to carry back!" ventured Barbara.

"We have all we need to claim the rights of the mine, so why lug any more than we need?" returned Polly.

"Come on, Poll! Let's pack up and be going!" said Eleanor, decisively.

So, with the animals saddled and the panniers packed, the cave-dwellers started carefully along the ledge towards the slope.

It was an invigorating morning, and the sun with its rays was just topping the tips of the pines, when the girls rode forth to climb the slope.

"Not a sign of that awful storm!" said Anne, amazed.

"Only in the glades and ravines, where the snow has drifted into heaps!
Even that will melt rapidly, as the warmth of the day is felt," said
Polly, looking eagerly about as she rode.

"Polly, what do you suppose became of those wild animals?" asked
Eleanor, riding directly behind Polly.

"That is just what I am looking for. I thought maybe I could see some tracks, for I was sure I got that panther when I took aim and shot!"

"Well, I'm going over near that edge of the cliff and see if there is any sign of blood or tracks!" declared Eleanor.

"No, no! You stop right here with us, Nolla!" cried Barbara, anxiously.

"I'm going over myself, Bob, because I am curious to see why both of them should slink away so quickly. A mountain-lion seldom leaves a possible victim until he has been gorged, and it was strange that he should go without having tried to get at us!" said Polly.

"Oh, Polly! Please don't talk of such gruesome things! I am so glad we will soon be back in civilization!" said Barbara.

The horses reached the top of the slope and Polly guided Noddy across the rough place to the cliff, where the fight had taken place.

Here she sought for some track or sign of the fight, but saw only a few small spots of red in the white snow.

Eleanor tried to make her burro follow after Noddy, but he was fractious and would not go near the cliff. He made a detour, however, about a small group of trees and just as he came opposite them, something upon the snow-drift at the base of the largest tree, caused him to shy violently.

"Oh, girls! Run! Come here and see what's here," cried Eleanor, excitedly, jumping from her burro but remembering to hold the bridle.

The burro backed and refused to go nearer the thing, but Polly rode Noddy over and saw that Eleanor had discovered one of the victims of the fight.

"Ha! I thought so!" said Polly, with satisfaction.

Noddy was left to watch from a comfortable vantage point, while her mistress ran up to the large panther which was stretched out at the foot of the tree. He had tried to climb it in order to escape the grizzly's claws.

"Isn't he a massive beast!" cried Anne, watching from her horse some distance away.

"You girls come back! He may not be dead!" shrieked Barbara, the moment she saw the animal.

"Say, Bob, if he wasn't dead, he'd have had me down long before you came along to warn us!" laughed Eleanor.

"Polly, he's a beauty, even if he is such a terror, isn't he?" said Eleanor, admiring the satiny coat and beautiful form of the large mountain-lion, so majestic in death.

"I never saw a larger one! He must be at least nine feet long from nose to tip of tail!" said Polly, lifting the tail with her foot, then letting it drop again.

She stooped over looking closely at the wounds made by the grizzly, then she suddenly cried out, "Oh! I thought that shot hit him! It must have been that first shot from the rifle that sent him back from the cliff. Then, the bear tracked him and had the fight back here in the forest. That is when we heard the sounds diminishing.

"Well, old fellow, I'm sorry it had to be so! But you decreed it! It was you or one of us, and I preferred to have had it you! Old Grizzly wouldn't be so cattish about sneaking up and laying low for us until the fire died down, or till one of us happened to step out of the circle of light! He would have made a big noise from the beginning and pounced down upon us willy-nilly. And now he has given you yours!"

As Polly spoke, she stood looking regretfully at the creature, as if she wished the world was ordered otherwise than all the killing and taking, one from another, in the vain belief of living!

"Polly, how much do you think he weighs?" asked Eleanor eagerly.

"Too much to drag home—if that is why you asked!" laughed Polly, looking up at Eleanor, with a wise shake of the head.

"To tell the truth, that is exactly what I planned to do until I saw how big he was!" laughed Eleanor.

"He must weigh at least two hundred pounds, Nolla," said Anne, who had come nearer during the examination.

"Yes, nearer two hundred and fifty pounds, I reckon," said Polly.

"I wanted to ship him to Chicago and show all of my society friends what we killed during my mountain visit!" explained Eleanor.

"Your motive killed the project before you saw him," said Anne, wagging her head at Eleanor as a rebuke.

Eleanor laughed merrily. "Well, I intend having a regular exhibit when I get back! All kinds of wild things will be shown my friends. I propose having Polly and Noddy sitting upon a pedestal in the drawing-room as a sample of the wildest things on the Rockies!" laughed Eleanor, giving Polly an affectionate glance.

"Oh, Nolla, don't talk so foolishly! As if Polly would come to Chicago!
What would she do with herself while we had to entertain?" said
Barbara, pettishly, but no one hearkened.

"Maybe we can blaze a trail from here to the nearest ranch on our way home, and send some one from there to come and cart the brute home for us. I'd pay him well!" said Eleanor, not willing to forego the pleasure of showing the lion at home.

"Oh, but then, you will make these ranchers curious. Once this far, they will look about the place where we spent the night, and that will lead them to discover the mine!" said Polly.

"I forgot that! Of course it would be foolish to give any one the slightest clew to our ever being here, and of what we did while here! I see I shall have to say good-by to the lion I hoped to be lionized for!" said Eleanor, laughingly.

"With a gold mine as rich as yours, you'll be lionized without the lion!" laughed Anne.

"By the way, did you bring your nugget, Polly?" asked Eleanor.

"Reckon I did!"

"Then before we leave, don't you think we ought to make some sort of a plan, or mark the spot so we can find it again? We don't want to make the same mistake old Montresor did, you know!" said Eleanor, anxiously.

"I have a plan all made. I did it while sitting by the fire this morning, before you girls were awake," said Polly, taking off her hat and removing a folded paper.

The girls were surprised at the accuracy of the sketch, and Anne said,
"Any one can find it from these directions!"

"Thank you, but you see, it would be hazardous to risk any one else coming here. The importance of keeping the whole adventure a profound secret until we have duly filed papers and can claim right of ownership to the claim, can be seen now. I hardly think it wise to speak of the crevice or danger of a land-slide until after we get some inside information about taking hold of the mine," said Polly, seriously.

An hour more was used by Polly in staking a legal claim and marking the corners with heaps of stone. She also left a very deep blaze in each of the four trees that cornered the large square area she thought would cover the cavern.

Noddy soon found the Top Notch Trail when they were again on the way homeward. By riding steadily all morning, they reached the spot where the rattle-snake was waiting for transportation. Anne and the others had experienced so many greater shocks since the killing of the reptile that they felt no qualms about carrying the snake now.

When the four riders finally turned in on the Pebbly Pit Trail, it was past four o'clock. They had been going steadily since morning, without food or rest, excepting the hour they had to stop at the falls to give the animals grass and water, and the girls were the sorriest-looking lot as they dragged up the road to the house and stopped at the porch.