Our
Colored Cook Was Simply Wild Over Them, And Would Spend Hours Looking
Down In The Craters Of Those That Were Not Playing.
Those seemed to
fascinate her above all things there, and at times she looked like a
wild African when she returned to camp from one of them.
Not far from
the tents of the enlisted men was a small hot spring that boiled
lazily in a shallow basin. It occurred to one of the men that it would
make a fine laundry, so he tied a few articles of clothing securely to
a stick and swished them up and down in the hot sulphur water and then
hung them up to dry. Another soldier, taking notice of the success of
that washing, decided to do even better, so he gathered all the
underwear, he had with him, except those he had on, and dropped them
down in the basin. He used the stick, but only to push them about
with, and alas! did not fasten them to it. They swirled about for a
time, and then all at once every article disappeared, leaving the poor
man in dumb amazement. He sat on the edge of the spring until dark,
watching and waiting for his clothes to return to him; but come back
they did not. Some of the men watched with him, but most of them
teased him cruelly. Such a loss on a trip like this was great.
When we got to Obsidian Mountain, Miss Hayes and I decided that we
would like to go up a little distance and get a few specimens to carry
home with us. Our camp for the night was supposed to be only one mile
farther on, and the enlisted men and two wagons were back of us, so we
thought we could safely stay there by ourselves. The so-called
mountain is really only a foothill to a large mountain, but is most
interesting from the fact that it is covered with pieces of obsidian,
mostly smoke-color, and that long ago Indians came there for
arrowheads.
A very narrow road has been cut out of the rocks at the base of the
mountain, and about four feet above a small stream. It has two very
sharp turns, and all around, as far as we could see, it would be
exceedingly dangerous, if not impossible, for large wagons to pass.
Miss Hayes and I went on up, gathering and rejecting pieces of
obsidian that had probably been gathered and rejected by hundreds of
tourists before us, and we were laughing and having a beautiful time
when, for some reason, I looked back, and down on the point where the
road almost doubles on itself I saw an old wagon with two horses, and
standing by the wagon were two men. They were looking at us, and very
soon one beckoned. I looked all around, thinking that some of their
friends must certainly be near us, but no one was in sight. By that
time one man was waving his hat to us, and then they actually called,
"Come on down here - come down, it is all right!"
Miss Hayes is quite deaf, and I was obliged to go around rocks before
I could get near enough to tell her of the wagon below, and the men
not hear me. She gave the men and wagon an indifferent glance, and
then went on searching for specimens. I was so vexed I could have
shaken her. She will scream over a worm or spider, and almost faint at
the sight of a snake, but those two men, who were apparently real
tramps, she did not mind. The situation was critical, and for just one
instant I thought hard. If we were to go over the small mountain we
would probably be lost, and might encounter all sorts of wild beasts,
and if those men were really vicious they could easily overtake us.
Besides, it would never do to let them suspect that we were afraid. So
I decided to go down - and slowly down I went, almost dragging Miss
Hayes with me. She did not understand my tactics, and I did not stop
to explain.
I went right to the men, taking care to get between them and the road
to camp. I asked them if they were in trouble of any kind, and they
said "No." I could hardly control my voice, but it seemed important
that I should give them to understand at once who we were. So I said,
"Did you meet our friends in the army ambulance just down the road?"
The two looked at each other and then one said "Yes!" I continued
with, "There are two very large and heavily loaded army wagons, and a
number of soldiers coming down the other road that should be here
right now." They smiled again, and said something to each other, but I
interrupted with, "I do not see how those big wagons and four mules
can pass you here, and it seems to me you had better get out of their
way, for soldiers can be awfully cross if things are not just to suit
them."
Well, those two men got in the old wagon without saying one word and
started on, and we watched them until they had disappeared from sight
around a bend, and then I said to Miss Hayes, "Come!" and lifting my
skirts, I started on the fastest run I ever made in my life, and I
kept it up until I actually staggered. Then I sat upon a rock back of
some bushes and waited for Miss Hayes, who appeared after a few
minutes. We rested for a short time and then went on and on, and still
there was nothing to be seen of the meadow where the camp was supposed
to be. Finally, after we had walked miles, it seemed to us, we saw an
opening far ahead, and the sharp silhouette of a man under the arch of
trees, and when we reached the end of the wooded road we found Captain
Spencer waiting for us.
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