Page:Three Young Ranchmen.djvu/83

Rh But there was no use to grumble, and after resting a spell the young man again started on his weary tramp through thicket and brush, over hills and through hollows. More than once he stumbled and fell, and it was all he could do at times to regain his feet.

"It's no fun to be afoot on the long range," he soliloquized. "A mile seems three times as long as when on horseback."

But there was no help for it; he must go on, and on he went, his feet now so sore in his wet boots that he could hardly take a regular step.

As he proceeded, he looked about for some thing to eat, but outside of a few half-green berries, found nothing. Birds were numerous, but without firearms they were out of his reach.

A less experienced person than Allen would have been much frightened by the solitude and loneliness. But the young ranchman was accustomed to being out alone for days at a time, and he did not mind it. He wished to get home more for bodily comforts than aught else.

At last, when Allen was beginning to con gratulate himself that the roughest portion of the journey would soon be over he came face to face with a most unexpected difficulty. Emerging