E-text prepared by Larry B. Harrison and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustration. See 32354-h.htm or 32354-h.zip: (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/32354/pg32354-images.html) or (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/32354/32354-h.zip) THE BOY SCOUTS IN THE ROCKIES Or The Secret of the Hidden Silver Mine by HERBERT CARTER Author of "The Boy Scouts First Camp Fire," "The Boy Scouts in the Blue Ridge," "The Boy Scouts on the Trail," "The Boy Scouts Through the Big Timber," "The Boy Scouts in the Maine Woods." [Illustration: A.L. BURT COMPANY NEW YORK] Copyright, 1913 By A. L. Burt Company THE BOY SCOUTS IN THE ROCKIES. [Illustration: The stubborn jack stood, with his sturdy legs braced like steel, while the taut rope told that Smithy must be dangling at the other end. _Page 13_ _The Boy Scouts in the Rockies._] THE BOY SCOUTS IN THE ROCKIES CHAPTER I. PERILS OF THE MOUNTAIN TRAIL. "How is the cripple crowd coming on these days? Hello! Step Hen, any more snake bites? Hope you're not limping with that other leg, now?" "I should say not, Thad. But I'm always going to believe you did a lot to keep the poison from getting into my system, when you sucked that wound." "And how about your game limb, Giraffe--was it the right, or the left you bruised so badly on the stones when you fell?" "The left one, Thad; but thank goodness it's healing up just prime, now. That magic salve did the business in great shape, I tell you." "Allan, I notice that you still have a halt once in a while. That old bear trap sure took a nasty grip on your leg, didn't it, though?" "It gave me an ugly pinch, Mr. Scout Master; and only for the fact of the springs being so weak and rusty that the owners had abandoned the trap, I might have been lame for three months. The witch hazel liniment you rubbed on helped a lot." "Well, I'm glad to see you're all such a grateful lot, considering the little I was able to do for you. It's sure a pleasure to be patrol leader and assistant scoutmaster to such a wide-awake lot of boys as we have in the Silver Fox Patrol. Don't you think so, Toby Smathers?" Thad Brewster turned a smiling face upon the sole man of the party, a genuine woods-ranger, such as the Government employs to look after the great forest reservations in the region of the Rocky Mountains, and the Coast, away up in the Northwest region. "Wall, it strikes me they're a purty lively lot of scouts, all right; and lucky at that to hev a leader as leads, and holds the reins tight over 'em. And I'm glad myself to be guide to such a hefty bunch. That's what I'm asayin', Mr. Scout Master," the party addressed replied.