On the Trail of Geronimo — page 279: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

ON THE TRAIL OF GERONIMO. 265 CHAPTER XXXI. A LAUGH. BRIEF as was the distance walked by Lieutenant Whitcomb and Ray Bedford, it seemed to them that by the time they had gone a few dozen steps they were in one of the wildest portions of the moun- tains. The slope of the ground was rapid, until the mere work of picking their way grew laborious, and caused both to breathe rapidly. Rocks, trees, bowlders, bushes and undergrowth were encoun- tered in such profusion that it would have been impossible for the surest footed burro to follow the same course. When the Apaches passed over that ground it must of necessity have always been on foot. Neither of the young men was skilled sufficiently in trailing to tell how numerous was the party they were pursuing. It might have consisted of five or three times as many persons. The surface, too, (C(O) nn) (C 6)(0)(6) SS (C(O) mM