Julie had been very eager to ride on the observation platform, but Jane had not wished to go outside because of the dust and cinders which she was sure she would encounter, but now that the small girl was actually going, she could hardly keep from skipping down the aisle as she followed the conductor with Gerald as rear guard. There was only one occupant of the observation platform, and to Gerald's delight, he wore the wide brimmed Stetson hat which the boy had often seen on the screen. "I'll bet yo' he's a cattle-man. I bet yo' he is!" Gerry gleefully confided to his small sister while their guide said a few words to the Westerner. Then, turning, the conductor beckoned to them. The stranger arose and held out a strong brown hand to assist the little girl to a chair at his side. "How do you do, Julie and Gerald?" he said, including them both in his friendly smile. Julie bobbed a little curtsy, but Gerald's attempt at manners was rudely interrupted by the necessity of seizing his cap. "We have to watch out for our hats," the stranger cautioned, "for now and then we are visited by a miniature whirlwind." Gerald was almost bursting with eagerness. "Oh, I say, Mr. Packard," he blurted out, "aren't you a reg'lar--er--I mean a reg'lar----" The boy grew red and embarrassed, and so Julie went to his aid with, "Mr. Packard, Gerry thinks maybe you're a cow-man rancher like we've seen in the moving pictures." The bronzed face of the middle-aged man wrinkled in a good-natured smile. "I am the owner of a cattle-ranch fifteen miles from Redfords," he told them. This information so delighted the boy that Julie was afraid he would bounce right over the rail. "Gee-golly! That's where we're going--Redfords is! Our daddy owns a cabin way up high on Mystery Mountain." The man looked puzzled. "Mystery Mountain," he repeated thoughtfully. "I don't seem to recall having heard of it." Then practical little Julie put in: "Oh, Mr. Packard, that isn't its really-truly name. Our daddy called it that 'cause there's a lost mine on it and Dad said it was a mystery where it went to." The man's face brightened. "O-ho! Then you must mean Redfords' Peak. That mine was found and lost again before I bought the Green Hills Ranch. Quite a long while ago that was." Gerry nodded agreement. "Yep. Dan, our big brother is most twenty-one and he hadn't been born yet." Then the boy's face saddened as he confided: "Dan's sick. He's got a dreadful cough. That's why we're going to Dad's cabin in the Rockies." "Our doctor said the al-te-tood would make him well," Julie explained, stopping after each syllable of the long word and saying it very thoughtfully. Gerald looked up eagerly. "Do you think it will, Mr. Packard? Do you think Dan will get well?" The older man's reply was reassuring: "Of course he will. Our Rocky Mountain air is a tonic that gives new life to everyone. Are you three traveling alone?"