“Gracious!” exclaimed Elfreda between coughs. “I never in all my life swallowed so much dust as I have this morning.”
“And it isn’t what might be called ‘pay dust’ either,” chuckled Lieutenant Wingate.
“Hear! Hear!” cried Emma. “Hippy has made a joke.”
“He only thinks he has,” chortled Stacy. “Why, I could make a better joke than that with my hands tied behind me.”
“And a gag between your teeth,” flung back Hippy, who was riding ahead.
“You have expressed my sentiments exactly,” laughed Tom Gray.
“You have offered us an excellent suggestion,” piped Emma, then fell into a severe fit of coughing. “What is needed here is a sprinkling wagon,” she added chokingly.
The road was now winding into a thick forest of slender scrubby pine. The little trees, tall and straight, stood so close together that a horse could hardly have been forced between them, and their foliage had been turned to a dirty yellow by the dust from the government road that had settled over it. The Overlanders, however, despite these unpleasant features, were in good spirits, each one eagerly looking forward to their journey through Nature’s Wonderland, which they were now entering.
The Riders swept into Gardiner Canyon at a slow jog, finding instant relief from the dust, the road and river there winding between high cliffs, the outer gateway to the Park itself.
A brief halt was made for luncheon, and late in the afternoon they came out upon a spacious plateau where they decided to pitch their camp for the night. According to the map of the Park that Tom had brought with him they were now but a short distance from the Mammoth Hot Springs.
Camp was quickly made and a fire started, and the warmth of the fire, and the hot dinner that was soon served, brought comfort and loosened the tongues of the Overland Riders.
“Ahem!” began Hippy, as they finished the meal.
“Uncle Hip is going to make a speech,” groaned Stacy Brown.
“Ladies and gentlemen, do you know where you are?” he began oratorically.
“In the Yellowstone National Park,” shouted Stacy, amid laughter.
“Or nearly so,” corrected the speaker. “Being here, it is well that you should acquaint yourselves with the extent of the vast natural reserves upon which we are about to enter.”