CHAPTER III.
ON GUARD.
The beautiful weather continued unchanged throughout the afternoon.

As the sun declined in the sky there was a perceptible coolness in the air, but the exercise of riding removed all necessity for using their blankets.
Although the party had been edging toward the foot-hills for hours, it seemed to the boys that they were as far off as ever.

They had covered many miles, but those who have travelled in the West know the deceptive character of the crystalline atmosphere, so far as distances are concerned.

However, as twilight began closing in they reached a small grove of trees, which was the destination of the guide from the first.
It was there he meant to camp for the night, and he could not have selected a better place had he spent a week in looking for it.
The grove covered less than an acre, the trees standing well apart, and wholly free from brush and undergrowth.

Thus even the horses could pass back and forth freely.