第13章

These various things were all stowed away in the kyacks or alforjas which hung on either side.They had to be very accurately balanced.The least difference in weight caused one side to sag, and that in turn chafed the saddle-tree against the animal's withers.

So far, so good.Next comes the affair of the top packs.Lay your duffle-bags across the middle of the saddle.Spread the blankets and quilts as evenly as possible.Cover all with the canvas tarpaulin suitably folded.Everything is now ready for the pack-rope.

The first thing anybody asks you when it is discovered that you know a little something of pack-trains is, "Do you throw the Diamond Hitch?"Now the Diamond is a pretty hitch and a firm one, but it is by no means the fetish some people make of it.They would have you believe that it represents the height of the packer's art; and once having mastered it, they use it religiously for every weight, shape, and size of pack.The truth of the matter is that the style of hitch should be varied according to the use to which it is to be put.

The Diamond is good because it holds firmly, is a great flattener, and is especially adapted to the securing of square boxes.It is celebrated because it is pretty and rather difficult to learn.Also it possesses the advantage for single-handed packing that it can be thrown slack throughout and then tightened, and that the last pull tightens the whole hitch.However, for ordinary purposes, with a quiet horse and a comparatively soft pack, the common Square Hitch holds well enough and is quickly made.For a load of small articles and heavy alforjas there is nothing like the Lone Packer.It too is a bit hard to learn.Chiefly is it valuable because the last pulls draw the alforjas away from the horse's sides, thus preventing their chafing him.Of the many hitches that remain, you need learn, to complete your list for all practical purposes, only the Bucking Hitch.It is complicated, and takes time and patience to throw, but it is warranted to hold your deck-load through the most violent storms bronco ingenuity can stir up.

These four will be enough.Learn to throw them, and take pains always to throw them good and tight.

A loose pack is the best expedient the enemy of your soul could possibly devise.It always turns or comes to pieces on the edge of things; and then you will spend the rest of the morning trailing a wildly buck-ing horse by the burst and scattered articles of camp duffle.It is furthermore your exhilarating task, after you have caught him, to take stock, and spend most of the afternoon looking for what your first search passed by.Wes and I once hunted two hours for as large an object as a Dutch oven.After which you can repack.This time you will snug things down.

You should have done so in the beginning.

Next, the lead-ropes are made fast to the top of the packs.There is here to be learned a certain knot.

In case of trouble you can reach from your saddle and jerk the whole thing free by a single pull on a loose end.

All is now ready.You take a last look around to see that nothing has been left.One of the horsemen starts on ahead.The pack-horses swing in behind.

We soon accustomed ours to recognize the whistling of "Boots and Saddles" as a signal for the advance.

Another horseman brings up the rear.The day's journey has begun.

To one used to pleasure-riding the affair seems almost too deliberate.The leader plods steadily, stopping from time to time to rest on the steep slopes.