THE ANIMAS 121 



ered witH a fairly deep humus which afforded a 

 foothold. This was all, I verily believe, which kept 

 the entire outfit from immediately sliding pell-mell 

 down five hundred feet of mountain side to the 

 bottom. 



As it was we were not without excitement of a sort. 

 Old Bed started things going. She carried the "of- 

 fice boxes," large wooden kyacks containing in- 

 struments, maps, drawing materials, and similar 

 paraphernalia. They were bulky and clumsy enough 

 on a level. And now Bed had not taken ten tenta- 

 tive, mincing, downward steps before one of the 

 ill-fated affairs caught against the side of the hill 

 and threw the burro off her balance. Over she went, 

 sideways, and began to roll. 



"Good-bye Bed, good-bye boxes!" sang out Fra- 

 zer, dolefully. It seemed as if they were doomed. 

 But as luck would have it, the falling animal, be- 

 fore she had gathered any great momentum, collided 

 with a small tree, stopped abruptly in her spectacu- 

 lar flight, regained her feet and scrambled up again 

 to where the others were. Nor did she again allow 

 her protruding pack to interfere with an orderly, 

 if slow, descent. 



Me thus alum was the next victim of the force of 

 gravity. About half way down her breeching strap 

 broke and the pack slipped over her head. She 

 backed out of the harness with a skilful wriggle 

 and standing unemotionally by watched the escaped 

 burden go crashing down the hill. 



