Evening star., 1934-10-28


bling wearily behind her burro.
sighed with relief when at last she
came up over Hold Moses Mountain
to the steep ascent into Pick Gulch.
It was here that even such Q tenderfoot IS
Jennie could see that others had recently pre-
ceded her. Burro and horse hoofs were still
clear-cut in the loose soil, and near the crest OF
the gulch the prints Of several pairs Of boots
showed where men had dismounted to lead
their animals down the first slippery plunge
into o forest of second growth frs.
Jennie halted her pack jack and then stum-
bled to q nearby boulder, while Ace turned his
tail to the cold wind and stood statuelike with
lowered head and long, dropping ears as II
sardonically caricaturing his owners wearness.
But though Jennie suspected blisters within the
yellow leather Of her new mining boots, and
ached as If every muscle rebelled against the
unfamiliar stiffness of flannel shirt and cordu
roy trousers, she. looked down upon what she
hoped the goal Of her long journey from
Denver.
If the storekeeper in Grizzly and the pros
pector whose cabin she had passed that morn
ing knew what they were talking about the old
placer mine of Labo in Pick Gulch lay hidden
beneath the dusty green canopy Of frs that
stretched down into the shadows.
Genevieve threw her wide hat to the ground.
opened the neck Of her shirt to the wind and
then fumbled in pocket until among the varied
and boylike miscellany Of tL-ngs there knife,
. handkerchief, . coin --Je. . match box
her fingers closed over q vanity case.
RUT though she mechanically powdered her
= sunburned nose, the wide blue eyes that
looked back at her from the mirror were little
concerned with beauty. Instead, they were
bright with both hope and fear as her gaze
went past the glass and eagerly down to the
forest of frs. Clearly the gulch interested her
0llStefe0
heels.
It was Ace who first heard the hurrying
thump Of boots and pricked up his long ears
as If pointing warningly toward the young
man who even in that high altitude was run
ming with but little effort toward the seated
girl.
Jennie thrust the vanity case back In her
pocket hastily snatched up her hat and fas-
tened the neckband Of her shirt. She was Wig
orously and somewhat painfully rubbing the
powder from her nose when the young man
reached her side. He hardly glanced ut her.
"Those men," he painted, who came up the
trail ahead of you. Are you with them, boy?"
Genevieve shook her head. Il thought was
alone in q wilderness" she confessed in . soft
contralto that did not detract from her boyish
appearance. "But it seems that I'm just part
Of Q parade. Do you know the country around
here? Is this Pick Gulch?"
The young man looked at her surprisedly,
then studied her sunburned face, new clothes,
and small hands already roughened by q week
in the hills.
"Gosh" he said, you're pretty small to be
knocking around by yourself, son. Tenderfoot
to boot aren't you9 Where in the mischief
do you think you're going?" He glanced to-
ward the patient burro and at once laughed
aloud.
"Tenderfoot Is right" he repeated appar-
emily forgetting his former passionate interest
in the men who had already entered Pick
Gulch. "It's a wonder you ever got this far
with a pack like that!"
= ENEvIEvE looked despondently toward
" Ace "A man in Grizzly showed me how
to throw the rope" she defended herself.
"rm sure it's right. You can see the diamond
on the top of the pack. But somehow the
saddle won't stay where it belongs, and the
boxes and things are always slipping of. I've
got blisters on my hands, from pulling at those
darned ropes and buckles"
xNans work. I'll cinch him for you and
repack your outfit" He frowned down into
the silence Of the three. mo hurry about
ha tn foa az