CHAPTER 9
Fool’s GoldWe made camp at a large stream at the base of the first line of ridges. The Lieutenant asked me to accompany him and two other trusty men. A third he left in charge of those who would wait for our return. We took four days’ rations, powder, shot, match, and started off, following the stream for about seven miles through a gap in the first ridge, until we reached the base of a cluster of three peaks, each higher than the other. The highest was exceedingly lofty and bald at the top. The Lieutenant stared up at the mountains, smiled and said that we would be able to see all that we needed to see from the top.
“We will approach it from the north,” the Lieutenant said, “since that side is not so steep.”
Not a man among us had ever climbed such a great height before. We s
