Page:Hugh Pendexter--Kings of the Missouri.djvu/24

 "I'd mighty well like to see that Yellowstone country you talk about," said Lander.

"Fools round here think I'm making it up," snorted Bridger. "But I've seen all I've told about. Hot water spouting seventy feet high. Springs of water so hot you can cook meat in 'em. An' a cave where the Injuns git their vermilion."

Lander believed he was evening up the mountaineer's air of superiority, and he solemnly repeated:

"I'd mighty well like to see those sights."

"You never will by sticking round here."

And with a jerk of his head the discoverer of Bridger's Pass, of South Pass and the Great Salt Lake, passed on his way.

Lander resumed his smile, then upbraided himself. He never would possess the wealth at tweny-seven that Bridger did. And no number of years could bring him Bridger's influence and power. The man might tell some whopping big lies about the Yellowstone country, but the fact remained that he had more intimate knowledge about the Rocky Mountains than any man of his day. As a guide and reader of signs he was superb. He was held in high esteem by the Indians. Best of all he had worked up from