There was one place, however, where the two trails did not go over the same ground.
It was now nearly due west, and at right angles to the different trails going towards the Rio Grande.
Several times we were puzzled by forking trails, and were in doubt whether we were on the right one to Eureka.
The broncho stiffened, its hoofs ploughing little trails in the soft dirt of the plain as it skidded to a stop.
Tonight, for the first time, the herd of black will spill over the trails toward our hovel, toward the road, toward the cities of man!"
Trails ran in every direction, the bark had been rubbed from scores of saplings, and every step gave fresh evidence of the near presence of game.
To cross the Andes on mule-back along the regular routes is a feat comparable to the feats of the energetic tourists who by thousands traverse the mule trails in out-of-the-way nooks of Switzerland.
The two fresh trails would be sufficient for him; and he felt as sure of finding the direction in which both would lead, as if he had ridden alongside the horseman without a head, or him without a heart.
There is a letter, written by Sir Matthew Begbie, describing how the mountain trails were infested that winter by desperadoes lying in wait for the miners who came staggering over the trail literally weighted down with gold.