Soon they were on the trail. For Joan time always passed swiftly on
horseback. Movement and changing scene were pleasurable to her. The
passing of time now held a strange expectancy, a mingled fear and
hope and pain, for at the end of this trail was Jim Cleve. In other
days she had flouted him, made fun of him, dominated him, everything
except loved and feared him. And now she was assured of her love and
almost convinced of her fear. The reputation these wild bandits gave
Jim was astounding and inexplicable to Joan. She rode the miles
thinking of Jim, dreading to meet him, longing to see him, and
praying and planning for him.
About noon the cavalcade rode out of the mouth of a canon into a
wide valley, surrounded by high, rounded foot-hills. Horses and
cattle were grazing on the green levels. A wide, shallow, noisy
stream split the valley. Joan could tell from the tracks at the
crossing that this place, whatever and wherever it was, saw
considerable travel; and she concluded the main rendezvous of the
bandits was close at hand.
The pack drivers led across the stream and the valley to enter an
intersecting ravine. It was narrow, rough-sided, and floored, but
the trail was good. Presently it opened out into a beautiful V-
shaped gulch, very different from the high-walled, shut-in canons.
It had a level floor, through which a brook flowed, and clumps of
spruce and pine, with here and there a giant balsam. Huge patches of
wild flowers gave rosy color to the grassy slopes. At the upper end
of this gulch Joan saw a number of widely separated cabins. This
place, then, was Cabin Gulch.
Upon reaching the first cabin the cavalcade split up. There were men
here who hallooed a welcome. Gulden halted with his pack-horse. Some
of the others rode on. Wood drove other pack-animals off to the
right, up the gentle slope. And Red Pearce, who was beside Kells,
instructed Joan to follow them. They rode up to a bench of
straggling spruce-trees, in the midst of which stood a large log
cabin. It was new, as in fact all the structures in the Gulch
appeared to be, and none of them had seen a winter. The chinks
between the logs were yet open. This cabin was of the rudest make of
notched logs one upon another, and roof of brush and earth. It was
low and flat, but very long, and extending before the whole of it
was a porch roof supported by posts. At one end was a corral. There
were doors and windows with nothing in them. Upon the front wall,
outside, hung saddles and bridles.