me," said Jack.

"Well," said Hugh, "of course this is a big country, and I make no doubt there's lots o' birds that I never saw, but I don't believe that there's fifty different kinds o' birds around this ranch."

"Oh, yes there are. I'll bet there's twice as many as that. Why just try and count 'em up for yourself; think of all the different kinds of ducks and geese that we saw last fall, and the grouse, and the robins and the gray jays. I'll bet you could count more than fifty yourself, if you had time to think about it."

"Well," said Hugh, "maybe I could; come to think about it; there's a heap o' different kinds o' birds. I never paid much attention to any of 'em, only the kinds that's good to eat; but say, I should think it would be mighty hard work skinning these little birds; their skin must be awful thin, and tear mighty easy."

"Well," said Jack, "that's just what I thought when I started in, but the fact is their skins are pretty tough. Of course you can't pull at them the way you would at a deer skin, but if you know how to do it, you scarcely ever tear a bird skin.

"Uncle Will put me up to this soon after I got home, and he took me down to a bird skinner and hired him to give me lessons. I used to go down there twice a week all through the winter and spring, and I have got so now that I can make a pretty good skin, and work pretty fast, too. I'm going to try to collect a few skins here, sometime when I can. If I come out another summer to stay here, I shall try to make a collection of all the birds that live here in summer."

"Well, I'd like right well to see you doing that work. It seems to me it would be mighty hard, but then there's a whole lot of things that we ain't none of us ever done that looks hard and yet are real easy after we know how to do 'em."

While all this talk was going on, they had been sorting over the material that was strewed on the floor, had picked out four good strong pack saddles, and the greater part of their riggings. Two of the lash cinches were in good order, the other two needed new hooks. Hugh stepped out of doors, and presently returned, bringing with him a small elk horn, from which he sawed off two lengths, each of which bore a prong. These he placed in a vice, shaped with a heavy rasp, and then passed over to Jack to fasten to the cinches. The smooth hook of horn was laced to the end of the cinch so that it hung down three inches below it.

All the straps of the pack saddle were now carefully looked over; any that were worn or in any way weak were renewed; sling ropes of just the right length were cut for each saddle, and new lash ropes took the place of one or two that showed signs of wear; four hackamores were made, one for each pack horse.

This work took up all the morning, and was not entirely finished when the horn blew for dinner.

CHAPTER III. GETTING READY.

When Hugh and Jack went back to the bunk-house, after dinner, the snow had ceased falling, and the sun was shining brightly. The little birds that had been hidden in the brush during the storm had come out, and were now hopping about on the wet ground, feeding, while some were cheerily singing from the tops of the fence posts. The mellow whistle of the meadow lark was heard alike from far down the valley and from the hillsides above them, and the black-birds were gurgling in the aspens behind the house. Jack stopped before entering the bunk-house and looked at the mountain, still white with snow, and stretched out his arms and drew a deep breath, and yelled aloud with pure delight. Hugh turned and looked back at him through the open door, smiling, as if greatly pleased, and said, "Seems good to get back, don't it? I tell ye there's no place like the mountains, and the longer ye stay among them the longer ye want to be there."

"I guess that's so, Hugh," said Jack; "it seems to me I never was so glad to be anywhere as I am to be here. Somehow I can't say what I feel, but I just seem to be all full in here," and he placed his hand on his breast.

"Yes, I know what you mean, although I can't say it no more than you can."

A few moments later the two were kneeling on the floor, unpacking the contents of a large box which had come to the ranch some time before. Hugh and Mr. Sturgis had thought that it might be a good thing for the travellers to take with them some articles to trade with the Indians. Of course a few presents would be needed, for, although Hugh, from his old acquaintance with the tribe, was sure of a hearty welcome, and Jack, as a friend of Hugh and John Monroe, would be gladly received, there would be times when it would be desirable to make to certain men small gifts; but besides this, it had occurred to Mr. Sturgis that perhaps they might buy a few horses, and furs enough to load them, and might bring them back on their return journey. Thus, the trip would be one of mingled business and pleasure, and there certainly was no possible objection to making a trading journey of the visit.

The different bundles that were taken out were labeled, and were put in piles on the floor. There were bolts of red and of blue cloth; and of gaily figured calicos; two or three bundles of bright handkerchiefs; boxes containing beads, selected with care as being the kind most prized by the Indians; there was quite a large bundle of cans of dry paint of different colors; and last, and perhaps most important of all, if one might estimate its value by the amount of pleasure it would give, a large bundle of tobacco.

"Quite a bunch of stuff, ain't it, son?"

"Yes, indeed," said Jack; "there's more than I thought there was. How are you going to divide it up?"

"Well," said Hugh, "these things look like more than they are. A lot of these bundles are bulky, and don't weigh much. I guess we'll get it all on two horses, and that will leave one horse for the grub and one for our beds and the mess outfit. Now, I expect the best thing we can do is to go up and see if we can't get Mrs. Carter to give us three or four seamless sacks, and make up packs of all this stuff, so that we can throw 'em right on and off the horses. Then we won't have to be gathering up a lot of little, small bundles every time we start to pack in the morning. Of course gunny sacks would do, but we want to keep all this stuff as clean as we can, so that when we get to the Indian camp and open it, even the outsides of the bundles will look pretty fresh and new; and besides that we've got to get a couple of mantas for these packs, for likely we'll have plenty of rain storms while we're on the road, and we want to keep these things dry if we can. The best way we can work it, we'll likely get them wet crossing some creek between here and the north, for all the creeks will be full now for the next month, and we'll likely have to do some swimming." Hugh went back into the dark store room and rummaged about for awhile, and then came out, carrying three or four nearly square pieces of canvas, which he threw on the ground.

"I thought we had some," he said in a satisfied tone, "but they ain't been used for a long time, and I didn't know but the boys had lost 'em."

"What are they for, Hugh?"

"Why, you see," said Hugh, "you throw a manta over your pack, after you get the load on, but before you put on your lash rope; the lash holds the manta in place, and it keeps everything below it dry.

"Well now, son, we've got everything except the blankets, and I believe it would be a good idea if you'd saddle up Pawnee and go out and drive in the horses that are in the pasture, and I'll show you what pack