There were benches
and ledges and ridges bare and glistening in the sun. From the
crests of these Yaqui's searching falcon gaze roved near and far
for signs of sheep, and Gale used his glass on the reaches of lava
that slanted steeply upward to the corrugated peaks, and down over
endless heave and roll and red-waved slopes. The heat smoked up
from the lava, and this, with the red color and the shiny choyas,
gave the impression of a world of smoldering fire.
Farther along the slope Yaqui halted and crawled behind projections
to a point commanding a view over an extraordinary section of
country. The peaks were off to the left. In the foreground were
gullies, ridges, and canyons, arroyos, all glistening with choyas
and some other and more numerous white bushes, and here and there
towered a green cactus. This region was only a splintered and more
devastated part of the volcanic slope, but it was miles in extent.
Yaqui peeped over the top of a blunt block of lava and searched
the sharp-billowed wilderness. Suddenly he grasped Gale and
pointed across a deep wide gully.
With the aid of his glass Gale saw five sheep. They were much
larger than he had expected, dull brown in color, and two of
them were rams with great curved horns. They were looking in his
direction. Remembering what he had heard about the wonderful
eyesight of these mountain animals, Gale could only conclude that
they had seen the hunters.
Then Yaqui's movements attracted and interested him.
Pages:
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341