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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12997 ***
+
+THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE GRAND CANYON
+or
+The Mystery of Bright Angel Gulch
+
+by
+Frank Gee Patchin
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+CHAPTERS
+    I. Westward Ho!
+   II. A View of the Promised Land
+  III. Tenderfeet Show Their Skill
+   IV. A Night in the Crater
+    V. Tad Lend a Helping Hand
+   VI. A Sight that Thrilled
+  VII. On the Rim of Eternity
+ VIII. The City in the Skies
+   IX. Chunky Wants to go Home
+    X. Escape is Wholly Cut Off
+   XI. A Trying time
+  XII. Braving the Roaring Colorado
+ XIII. A Battle Mightily Waged
+  XIV. The Dogs Pick up a Trail
+   XV. The Mystery of the Rifle
+  XVI. A New Way to Hunt Lions
+ XVII. The Whirlwind Ball of Yellow
+XVIII. The Unwilling Guest Departs
+  XIX. The Fat Boy Does a Ghost Dance
+   XX. In the Home of the Havasupais
+  XXI. Chunky Gets a Turkish Bath
+ XXII. A Magical Cure
+XXIII. Stacy as an Indian Fighter
+ XXIV. Conclusion
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+WESTWARD, HO!
+
+
+"Ow, Wow, Wow, Wow! Y-E-O-W!"
+
+Tad Butler, who was industriously chopping wood at the rear of the
+woodshed of his home, finished the tough, knotted stick before looking
+up.
+
+The almost unearthly chorus of yells behind him had not even startled
+the boy or caused him to cease his efforts until he had completed what
+he had set out to do.  This finished, Tad turned a smiling face to the
+three brown-faced young men who were regarding him solemnly.
+
+"Haven't you fellows anything to do?" demanded Tad.
+
+"Yes, but we have graduated from the woodpile," replied Ned Rector.
+
+"I got my diploma the first time I ever tried it," added Chunky Brown,
+otherwise and more properly known as Stacy Brown.  "Cut a slice of my
+big toe off.  They gave me my diploma right away.  You fellows are too
+slow."
+
+"Come in the house, won't you?  Mother'll be glad to see you," urged Tad.
+
+"Surely we will," agreed Walter Perkins.  "That's what we came over
+to do."
+
+"Oh, it is, eh?"
+
+"Didn't think we came over to help you chop wood, did you?" demanded
+Chunky indignantly.
+
+"Knowing you as I do, I hadn't any such idea," laughed Tad.  "But
+come in."
+
+The boys filed in through the wood house, reaching the sitting room by
+way of the kitchen.  Tad's mother gave them a smiling welcome, rising
+to extend a warm, friendly hand to each.
+
+"Sit down, Mrs. Butler," urged Walter.
+
+"Yes, we will come to you," added Ned.
+
+"We haven't lost the use of our legs yet, Mrs. Butler," declared the
+fat Chunky, growing very red in the face as he noted the disapproving
+glances directed at him by his companions.
+
+"I hope you won't mind Chunky, Mrs. Butler," said Ned apologetically.
+"You know he has lived among savages lately, and-----"
+
+"Yes, ma'am, Ned and I have been constant companions for---how long
+has it been, boys?"
+
+"Shut up!" hissed Ned Rector in the fat boy's ear.  "I'll whale you when
+we get outside, if you make any more such breaks."
+
+"Never mind, boys; Stacy and myself are very old, old friends," laughed
+Mrs. Butler.
+
+"Yes, ma'am, about a hundred years old, more or less.  Oh, I beg your
+pardon.  I didn't mean it just that way," stammered Chunky, coloring
+again and fumbling his cap awkwardly.
+
+"Now you have said it," groaned Walter.
+
+"Go way back in the corner out of sight and sit down before I start
+something," commanded Ned.  "You must excuse us, Mrs. Butler.  It is
+as Chunky has said.  We are all savages---some of us more so than
+others, some less."
+
+"It is unnecessary to make apologies.  You are just a lot of healthy
+young men, full of life and spirits." Mrs. Butler patted Tad
+affectionately on the head.  "Tad knows what I think of you all and
+how appreciative we both are over what Mr. Perkins has done for us.
+Now that I have had a little money left me, I am glad that Tad is able
+to spend more time with you in the open.  I presume you will soon be
+thinking of another trip."
+
+"We're always thinking of that, Mrs. Butler," interrupted Ned.  "And
+we couldn't think of a trip without thinking of Tad.  A trip without
+Tad would be like---like-----"
+
+"A dog's tail wagging down the street without the dog," interjected the
+solemn voice of Chunky Brown from his new headquarters.
+
+"I move we throw Chunky out in the wood house," exploded Ned.  "Will
+you excuse us while we get rid of the encumbrance, Mrs. Butler?"
+
+"Sit down and make your peace.  I know you boys have some things to
+talk over.  I can see it in your faces.  Go on with your conference.
+I'll bring you some lemonade in a few moments," said Mrs. Butler, as
+she left the room.
+
+"Well, fellows, is this just a friendly call or have you really
+something in mind?" asked Tad after all had seated themselves.
+
+"I'm the only one with a mind that will hold anything.  And I've got
+plenty in it, too," piped Chunky.
+
+Ned Rector sighed helplessly.  The other boys grinned, passing hands
+across their faces that Stacy might not observe their amusement.
+
+"We want to pow-wow with you," said Walter.
+
+"That means you've something ahead---another trip?"
+
+"Yes, we're going to the-----" began young Brown.
+
+"Silence! Children should be seen, but not heard," commanded Ned.
+
+Chunky promptly hitched his chair out, joining the circle.
+
+"I'm seen," he nodded, with a grimace.
+
+"Then see that you're not heard.  Some things not even a Pony Rider boy
+can stand.  You're one of them."
+
+"Yes, I'm a Pony Rider," answered Chunky, misapplying Ned Rector's
+withering remark.
+
+"Another trip, eh?"
+
+"That's it, Tad.  Walt's father has planned it out for us.  And what
+do you think?"
+
+"Yes, what d'ye think?  He's going-----"
+
+"Look here, Chunky, are you telling this or am I?" demanded Ned angrily.
+
+"You're trying to, but you're making an awful mess of the whole business.
+Better let me tell it.  I know how and you don't."
+
+"Give Ned a chance, can't you, Chunky?" rebuked Tad, frowning.
+
+"All right, I'll give him a chance, of course, if you say so.  I always
+have to take a back seat for everybody.  I'm nothing but just a
+roly-poly fat boy, handy to draw water, pitch and strike camp, gather
+firewood, wash the dishes, cook the meals, save the lives of my
+companions when they get into scrapes, and-----"
+
+This was too much for the gravity of the Pony Rider Boys.  They burst
+out into a hearty laugh, which served to put all in good humor again.
+Chunky, having relieved his mind, now settled down in his chair to
+listen.
+
+"Now, Ned, proceed," said Tad.
+
+"Well, Mr. Perkins thinks it would be fine for us to visit the Grand
+Canyon."
+
+"Of the Colorado?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Tad knows more'n the rest of you.  You didn't know where the place was.
+Walt thought it was some kind of a gun that they shot off at sunrise,
+or-----"
+
+No one gave any heed to Chunky's further interruption this time.
+
+"The Grand Canyon of the Colorado?" repeated Tad, his eyes sparkling.
+"Isn't that fine?  Do you know, I have always wanted to go there, but
+I hardly thought we should get that far away from home again.  But what
+plans has Mr. Perkins made?"
+
+"Well, he has been writing to arrange for guides and so forth.  He knows
+a good man at Flagstaff with whom Mr. Perkins hunted a few years ago.
+What did he say the name was, Walt?"
+
+"Nance.  Jim Nance, one of the best men in that part of the country.
+Everybody knows Jim Nance."
+
+"I don't," declared Chunky, suddenly coming to life again.
+
+"There are a lot of other things you don't know," retorted Ned Rector
+witheringly.
+
+"If there are you can't teach them to me," returned Stacy promptly.
+
+"As I was saying when _that_ interrupted me, Mr. Perkins wrote to this
+man, Nance, and engaged him for June first, to remain with us as long
+as we require his services."
+
+"Does Mr. Perkins think we had better take our ponies with us?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then we shall have to buy others.  I hardly think I can afford that
+outlay," said Tad, with a shake of the head.
+
+"That is all arranged, Tad," interrupted Walter.  "Father has directed
+Mr. Nance to get five good horses or ponies."
+
+"Then Professor Zepplin is to accompany us?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Poor Professor!  His troubles certainly are not over yet," laughed Tad.
+"We must try not to annoy him so much this trip.  We are older now and
+ought to use better judgment."
+
+"That's what I've been telling Ned," spoke up Stacy.  "He's old enough
+to-----"
+
+"To---what?" demanded Ned.
+
+Chunky quailed under the threatening gaze of Ned Rector.  He mumbled
+some unintelligible words, settled back in his chair and made himself
+as inconspicuous as possible.
+
+"Pooh! Professor Zepplin enjoys our pranks as much as do we ourselves.
+He just makes believe that he doesn't.  He's a boy himself."
+
+"But an overgrown one," muttered Stacy under his breath.
+
+"Where do we meet the Professor?" asked Tad.
+
+"How about it, Walt?" asked Ned, turning to young Perkins.
+
+"I don't think father mentioned that."
+
+"We shall probably pick him up on the way out," nodded Tad.
+
+"Well, what do you think of it?" demanded Ned.
+
+"Fine, fine!"
+
+"You don't seem very enthusiastic about it."
+
+"Don't I?  Well, I am.  Has Mr. Perkins decided when we are to start?"
+
+"Yes, in about two weeks."
+
+"I don't know.  I am afraid that is too soon for me.  I don't even know
+that I shall be able to go," said Tad Butler.
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Well, we may not be able to afford it."
+
+"Pshaw! Your mother just said you might go, or words to that effect.
+Of course you'll go.  If you didn't, I wouldn't go, and my father would
+be disappointed.  He knows what these trips have done for me.  Remember
+what a tender plant I was when we went out in the Rockies that time?"
+
+"Ye---yes," piped Stacy.  "He was a pale lily of the valley.  Now Walt's
+a regular daisy."
+
+Young Perkins laughed good-naturedly.  He was not easily irritated now,
+whereas, before beginning to live in the open, the least little
+annoyance would set his nerves on edge.
+
+Mrs. Butler came in at this juncture, carrying a pitcher of lemonade
+and four glasses on a tray.  The Pony Riders rose instinctively,
+standing while Mrs. Butler poured the lemonade.
+
+"Oh, I forgot the cookies, didn't I?" she cried.
+
+"Yes, we couldn't get along without the cookies," nodded Chunky.
+
+"Now don't let your eyes get bigger'n your stomach," warned Ned.
+"Remember, we are in polite society now."
+
+"I hope you won't forget yourself either," retorted Stacy.  "I'll
+stand beside you.  If you start to make a break I'll tread on your
+toes and-----"
+
+"Try it!" hissed Ned Rector in the fat boy's ear.  The entrance of
+Mrs. Butler with a plate heaped with ginger cookies drove all other
+thoughts from the minds of the boys.  "Mrs. Butler," began Ned,
+clearing his throat, "we---we thank you; from the bottom of our
+hearts we thank you---don't we, Stacy?"
+
+"Well, I---I guess so.  I can tell better after I've tried the cookies.
+I know the lemonade's all right."
+
+"How do you know?" demanded three voices at once.
+
+"Why, I tasted of it," admitted Chunky.
+
+"As I was saying, Mrs. Butler, we-----"
+
+"Never mind thanking me, Ned.  I will take your appreciation for
+granted."
+
+"Thank you," answered Stacy, looking longingly at the plate of cookies.
+
+"Now help yourselves.  Don't wait, boys," urged Tad's mother, giving
+the boys a friendly smile before turning to leave the room.
+
+"Ah, Mrs. Butler.  One moment, please," said Ned.
+
+"Yes.  What is it?"
+
+"We---ah-----"
+
+"Oh, let me say it.  You don't know how to talk in public," exclaimed
+Chunky.  "Mrs. Butler, we, the Pony Rider Boys, rough riders, Indian
+fighters and general, all-around stars of both plain and mountain, are
+thinking-----"
+
+Ned thrust Chunky gently aside.  Had it not been for Mrs. Butler's
+presence Ned undoubtedly would have used more force.
+
+Tad sat down grinning broadly.  He knew that his mother enjoyed this
+good-natured badinage fully as much as the boys did.
+
+Ned rapped on the table with his knuckles.
+
+"Order, please, gentlemen!"
+
+"That's I," chuckled Stacy, slipping into a chair.
+
+"Laying all trimmings aside, Mrs. Butler, we have come to speak with
+you first, after which we'll have something to say to your son."
+
+Mrs. Butler sat down in the chair that Tad had placed for her.
+
+"Very good.  I shall be glad to hear what you have to say, Ned."
+
+"The fact is---as I was about to say when interrupted by the
+irresponsible person at my left-----"
+
+"I beg pardon.  _I'm_ at your left," remarked Walter.
+
+"He doesn't know which is his left and which is his right," jeered
+Chunky.  "He's usually left, though."
+
+"I refer to the person who was sitting at my left at the time I began
+speaking.  I had no intention of casting any aspersion on Mr. Walter
+Perkins.  As I was about to say, we are planning another trip, Mrs.
+Butler."
+
+"Where away this time, Ned?"
+
+"To the Grand Canyon-----"
+
+"With the accent on the _yon_," added Stacy.
+
+"The Grand Canyon of the Colorado?"
+
+"Yes, ma'am.  Mr. Perkins has arranged it for us.  Everything is fixed.
+Professor Zepplin is going along and-----"
+
+"That will be fine, indeed," glowed Tad's mother.
+
+"Yes, we think so, and we're glad to know that you do.  Tad didn't know
+whether you would approve of the proposed trip or not.  We
+are---ahem---delighted to learn that you do approve of it and that you
+are willing that Tad should go."
+
+"Oh, but I haven't said so," laughed Mrs. Butler.
+
+"Of course she hasn't.  You see how little one can depend upon what Ned
+Rector says," interjected Stacy.
+
+Ned gave him a warning look.
+
+"I should say that you approve of his going.  Of course we couldn't
+think of taking this trip without Tad.  I don't believe Mr. Perkins
+would let Walt go if Tad weren't along.  You see, Tad's a handy man
+to have around.  I know Chunky's people never would trust him to go
+without Tad to look after him.  You see, Chunky's such an irresponsible
+mortal-----"
+
+"Oh, I don't know," interrupted the fat boy.
+
+"One never knows what he's going to do next.  He needs some one to
+watch him constantly.  We think it is the fault of his bringing up."
+
+"Or the company I've been keeping," finished Chunky.
+
+"At any rate, we need Tad with us."
+
+"Then I shall have to say 'yes,'" replied Mrs. Butler, nodding and
+smiling.  "Of course Tad may go.  I am glad, indeed, that he has such
+splendid opportunities."
+
+"But, mother, I ought to be at work," protested Tad.  "It is time I
+were doing something.  Besides, I think you need me at home."
+
+"Never mind, Tad.  When you have finished with these trips you will
+be all the better for them.  You will have erected a foundation of
+health that will last you all your life.  Furthermore, you will have
+gained many things by the experience, When you get at the real serious
+purpose of your life, you will accomplish what you set yourself to do,
+with better results."
+
+"That---that's what I say," began Chunky.  "Haven't I always told
+you-----"
+
+"Stacy is wise beyond his years," smiled Mrs. Butler.  "When he is
+grown up I look for him to be a very clever young man."
+
+The eyes of the boys still twinkled merrily, for Chunky, unable to
+guess whether he were being teased, was still scowling somewhat.
+However, he kept still for the time being.
+
+"Yes, Tad may go with you," continued Mrs. Butler.  "You start---when?"
+
+"In about two weeks," Walter replied.  "Father said he would call to
+discuss the matter with you."
+
+"I shall be glad of that," nodded Mrs. Butler.  "I shall want to talk
+over the business part of the trip."
+
+Then the youngsters fell to discussing the articles of outfit they
+would need.  On this head their past experience stood them in good
+stead.
+
+"Now, I presume, I have said all that I can say," added Mrs. Butler,
+rising.  "I will leave you, for I would be of very little use to you
+in choosing clothing and equipment."
+
+Before she could escape from the room, however, Tad had risen and
+reached her.  Without exhibiting a twinge of embarrassment before the
+other young men, Tad held and kissed her, then escorted her to the
+door.  Walter and Ned smiled their approval.  Chunky said nothing,
+but sat blinking solemnly---the best possible proof of his approbation.
+
+All of the readers of this series know these young men well.  They
+were first introduced to Tad and his chums in the opening volume,
+"_The Pony Rider Boys In The Rockies_."  Then were told all the details
+of how the boys became Pony Riders, and of the way they put their
+plans through successfully.  Readers of that volume well recall the
+exciting experiences and hair-breadth escapes of the youngsters, their
+hunts for big game and all the joys of living close to Nature.  Their
+battle with the claim jumpers is still fresh in the minds of all readers.
+
+We next met our young friends in the second volume, "_The Pony Rider
+Boys In Texas_."  It was on these south-western grazing plains that
+the lads took part in a big cattle drive across the state.  This new
+taste of cowboy life furnished the boys with more excitement than they
+had ever dreamed could be crowded into so few weeks.  It proved to be
+one long round of joyous life in the saddle, yet it was the sort of
+joy that is bound up in hard work.  Tad's great work in saving a large
+part of the herd will still be fresh in the mind of the reader.  How
+the lads won the liking of even the roughest cowboys was also
+stirringly told.
+
+From Texas, as our readers know, the Pony Riders went north, and their
+next doings are interestingly chronicled in "_The Pony Rider Boys In
+Montana_."  Here the boys had the great experience of going over the
+old Custer trail, and here it was that Tad and his companions became
+involved in a "war" between the sheep and the cattle men.  How Tad and
+his chums soon found themselves almost in the position of the grist
+between the millstones will be instantly recalled.  Tad's adventures
+with the Blackfeet Indians formed not the least interesting portion of
+the story.  It was a rare picture of ranch and Indian life of the
+present day that our readers found in the third volume of this series.
+
+Perhaps the strangest experiences, as most of our readers will agree,
+were those described in "_The Pony Rider Boys In The Ozarks_."  In this
+wild part of the country the Pony Rider Boys had a medley of
+adventures---they met with robbers, were lost in the great mountain
+forests, and unexpectedly became involved in an accident in a great
+mine.  The final discovery of the strange secret of the mountains was
+the climax of that wonderful saddle journey.
+
+From the wooded Ozarks to the stifling alkali deserts of Nevada was
+a long jump, but the lads made it.  All of our readers remember the
+rousing description of adventures that were set forth in "_The Pony
+Rider Boys In The Alkali_."  This trip through the grim desert with
+its scanty vegetation and scarcity of water proved to be a journey
+that fully demonstrated the enduring qualities of these sturdy young
+men.  The life, far away from all connection with civilization, was
+one of constant privation and well-nigh innumerable perils.  The
+meeting with the crazed hermit of this wild waste formed one of the
+most thrilling incidents.  The whole vast alkali plain presented a
+maze the solving of which taxed to the utmost the ingenuity of the
+young men.  However, they bore themselves with credit, and came out
+with a greater reputation than ever for judgment, courage and
+endurance.
+
+Our next meeting with these lads, who were fast becoming veterans of
+the saddle, was in the sixth volume, "_The Pony Rider Boys in New
+Mexico_."  Here, again, the lads ran upon Indian "signs" and
+experiences, not the least of which was their chance to be present at
+the weird fire dance of the Apaches.  The race with the prairie fire,
+the wonderful discoveries made in the former homes of the cave-dwellers,
+and the defence of the lost treasure in the home of the ancient Pueblo
+Indians are all matters well remembered by our readers.
+
+Now another journey, to the scene of one of Nature's greatest wonders,
+the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, was absorbing the thought of Tad
+Butler and his young friends.
+
+"The question is, what'll we take with us?" asked Ned Rector.
+
+"Yes, that's one of the things about which we wanted to talk with you,"
+spoke up Walter Perkins.  "You always think of things that none of the
+rest of us remembers."
+
+"Oh, I don't know.  You're all pretty good planners.  In the first place,
+you know you want to travel light."
+
+"We aren't likely to travel any other way," scoffed Chunky.  "Whatever
+we do, though, let's not travel light on food.  I can stand almost
+anything but food---I mean without food---I mean-----"
+
+"I don't believe you know what you do mean," jeered Ned.  "Well, what
+about it, Tad?"
+
+"As I was saying, we should travel light.  Of course, we must take our
+own equipment---saddles, quirts, spurs, chaps, lasso, guns, canteen,
+slicker and all that sort of thing.  I suppose the guide will arrange
+for the pack train equipment."
+
+"I'll speak to father about that," said Walter.  "I don't know just what
+arrangements he has made with the guide."
+
+"We can no doubt get what ammunition we need after we get to Flagstaff,
+if that is to be our railway destination.  Folks usually have ammunition
+in that country," added Tad, with a faint smile.  "Our uniforms or
+clothes we know about.  We shall no doubt need some good tough boots for
+mountain climbing-----"
+
+"Do we have to climb mountains?" demanded Stacy.
+
+"Climb up and fall down," answered Walt.
+
+"Oh, dear me, dear me!  It'll be the death of me, I know," wailed the
+fat boy.  "I'd rather ride---up.  I can get down all right, but-----"
+
+"Yes, you certainly can get down," laughed Ned.
+
+"Then we shall want quite a lot of soft, strong rope, about quarter-inch
+Manila.  I don't think of anything else.  We ought to be able to pick up
+whatever else we need after we get out there------"
+
+"I guess that's all, fellows, isn't it?" asked Ned.
+
+"All but the shouting," answered Stacy.
+
+"You are well able to do that.  You'd better practise up on those
+favorite exclamations of yours---"
+
+"What are they?"
+
+"Y-e-o-w and W-o-w!"
+
+"Who-o-o-p-e-e!" answered Chunky in a shrill, high-pitched voice.
+
+Ned Rector clapped a hand over the fat boy's mouth with a resounding
+smack.  Chunky was jerked backward, his head striking the chair with a
+bump that was audible all over the room.
+
+"You stop that business.  Do you forget where you are?  That's all
+right out in the wilds, but not in civilized society," declared Ned.
+
+"Whe---where's the civilized society?  Don't you do that to me again,
+or I'll-----"
+
+"Chunky's all right.  Let him alone, Ned.  Mother doesn't care how
+much noise we make in here.  In fact, she'd think something was wrong
+with us if we didn't make a big racket.  Chunky, if you are so full
+of steam you might go out and finish the woodpile for me.  I've got
+to cut that wood this afternoon."
+
+"No, thank you.  I'm willing to hunt for the colored man in the
+woodpile, but I'm a goat if I'll chop the wood.  Why, I'd lose my
+reputation in Chillicothe if I were seen doing such a common thing
+as that."
+
+"No, that would be impossible," answered Ned sarcastically.
+
+"Eh?  Impossible?" questioned Stacy.
+
+"Oh, yes, yes, yes.  I'll write it down for you so you'll understand
+it and-----"
+
+"He means that you can't lose what you don't possess," explained Walter.
+
+Chunky grunted his disgust, but made no reply.  The boys then fell to
+discussing the proposed trip.  Tad got out his atlas and together they
+pored over the map of Arizona.  After some time at this task, Chunky
+pulled a much soiled railway map from his pocket.  This gave them a
+more detailed plan of the Grand Canyon.
+
+"You see, I have to show you.  When it comes to doing things Stacy
+Brown's the one on whom you all have to fall back."
+
+"You are almost human at times, Stacy.  I'm free to admit that,"
+laughed Tad.  "Yes, this is just what we want."
+
+Chunky inflated his chest, and, with hands clasped behind his back,
+walked to the window and gazed out into the street, nodding patronizingly
+now and then to persons passing who had bowed to him.  In his own
+estimation, Stacy was the most important person in Chillcothe.
+So confident was he of this that several persons in the community
+had come almost to believe it themselves.  Chunky, by his dignified
+and important bearing, had hopes of converting others to this same
+belief.  As for his three companions---well, a journey without Stacy
+Brown would be a tame and uneventful journey at best.
+
+The greater part of the afternoon was devoted to making plans for the
+coming trip, each having his suggestions to make or his criticism to
+offer of the suggestions of others.  Though the arguments of the Pony
+Riders at times became quite heated, the friendship they held for each
+other was never really strained.  They were bound together by ties
+that would endure for many years to come.
+
+Each day thereafter, during their stay at home, they met for
+consultation, and when two weeks later they had assembled at the
+railroad station in Chillicothe, clad in their khaki suits, sombreros,
+each with a red bandanna handkerchief tied carelessly about his neck,
+they presented an imposing appearance and were the centre of a great
+crowd of admiring boys and smiling grown-ups.  There were many exciting
+experiences ahead of the Pony Rider Boys as well as a series of
+journeys that would linger in memory the rest of their lives.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+A VIEW OF THE PROMISED LAND
+
+
+For nearly three days the Pony Rider Boys had been taking their ease
+in a Pullman sleeping car, making great inroads on the food served in
+the dining car.
+
+It had been a happy journey.  The boys were full of anticipation of
+what was before them.  At intervals during the day they would study
+their maps and enter into long discussions with Professor Zepplin,
+the grizzled, stern-looking man who in so many other journeys had
+been their guardian and faithful companion.  The Professor had joined
+them at St. Louis, where the real journey had commenced.
+
+All that day they had been racing over baked deserts, a cloud of dust
+sifting into the car and making life miserable for the more tender
+passengers, though the hardy Pony Riders gave no heed to such trivial
+discomforts as heat and dust.  They were used to that sort of thing.
+Furthermore, they expected, ere many more days had passed, to be treated
+to discomforts that were real.
+
+Suddenly the train dashed from the baked desert into a green forest.
+The temperature seemed to drop several degrees in an instant.  Everyone
+drew a long breath, faces were pressed against windows and expressions
+of delight were heard in many parts of the sleeper.
+
+They had entered a forest of tall pines, so tall that the lads were
+obliged to crane their necks to see the tops.
+
+"This is the beginning of the beginning," announced Professor Zepplin
+somewhat enigmatically.  "This is the forest primeval."
+
+"I don't know," replied Chunky, peering through a car window.  "It
+strikes me that we've left the evil behind and got into the real thing."
+
+"What is it, Professor?" asked Tad Butler.
+
+"As I have said, it is a primeval forest.  This great woodland stretches
+away from the very base of the San Francisco mountains southward for a
+distance of nearly two hundred miles.  We are taking a short cut through
+it and should reach Flagstaff in about an hour from now."
+
+"Hurrah!  We're going to see the Flagstaff in an hour," cried Stacy,
+his face wreathed in smiles.
+
+"A further fact, which is no doubt unknown to you, is that this enormous
+forest covers an area of over ten thousand square miles, and contains
+six million, four hundred thousand acres."
+
+The boys uttered exclamations of amazement and wonder.
+
+"If you'd said ten acres, I'd understand you better," replied Stacy.
+"I never could think in such big figures.  I'm like a rich fellow in
+our town, who doesn't know what money is above a certain sum."
+
+"Well, what about it?" demanded Tad.
+
+"Up to fifty dollars, he knows how much it is, but for anything above
+that it's a check," finished Chunky, looking about him expectantly.
+
+No one laughed.
+
+"Speaking of checks," said Ned Rector after an interval of silence, "did
+you bring along that snaffle bit, Tad?"
+
+"What snaffle bit?"
+
+"The one we were going to put on Stacy Brown to hold him in check?"
+
+A series of groans greeted Ned's words.  Chunky grumbled something about
+making a checker board of Ned's face if he didn't watch out, after
+which the Professor turned the rising tide into other and safer
+channels by continuing his lecture on the great Arizona forest.
+
+As the train dashed on the Pony Riders were greeted with occasional
+views of a mountain differing from anything they ever had seen.  One
+peak especially attracted their attention.  Its blackened sides, and
+its summit bathed in a warm glow of yellow sunshine, gave it a most
+striking appearance.
+
+"What is it, Professor?" asked Tad, with an inquiring gaze and nod
+toward the mountain.
+
+"Sunset Mountain," answered Professor Zepplin.  "You should have
+discovered that."
+
+"But it isn't sunset," objected Walter.
+
+"It is always sunset there.  The effect is always a sunset effect."
+
+"In the night, too!" questioned Chunky.
+
+"No, it's moonset then," scoffed Rector.
+
+"In the same direction you will observe the others of the San Francisco
+mountains.  However, we shall have more of this later on.  For the
+present you would do well to gather up Your belongings, for we shall
+be at our journey's end in a few minutes."
+
+This announcement caused the boys to spring up, reaching to the racks
+above for such of their luggage as had been stowed there.  All was
+bustle for the next twenty minutes.  Then the train drew into the
+station, the cars covered with the dust of the desert, changing the
+dark brown of their paint to a dirty gray.
+
+The boys found that they had arrived at a typical western town, a
+tree-surrounded, mountain-shadowed, breeze-blown place set like a gem
+in a frame of green and gold, nestling, it seemed, at the very base
+of the towering peaks of the San Francisco mountains, whose three
+rough volcanic peaks stood silent sentinel over the little community
+clustered at their base.
+
+The railroad track lined one side of the main street, while business
+blocks and public houses were ranged on the opposite side.  Here the
+garb of the Pony Riders failed to attract the same attention that it
+had done further east.  There were many others on the station platform
+whose clothes and general get-up were similar to those of the boys.
+
+But as they descended from the sleeping car, their arms full of their
+belongings, each carrying a rifle in a case, they caught sight of a
+man who instantly claimed their attention.  He was fully sixty years
+old, standing straight as a tree and wearing a soft black felt hat,
+a white shirt and a wing collar.  From his chin, extend almost back
+to the ears, there stood a growth of white bristling whiskers.  As he
+tilted his head backward in an apparent effort to stand still more
+erect, the whiskers stood out almost at right angles, giving him a
+most ferocious appearance.
+
+Tad felt a tug at his sleeve.  He turned to find the big eyes of Chunky
+Brown gazing up into his face.
+
+"Is that the Wild Man of the Canyon?" whispered Stacy.
+
+"I don't know.  He looks as if he might be a Senator, or-----"
+
+"Any of you boys know where we can find Jim Nance?" interrupted the
+Professor.
+
+"I reckon we do," drawled a cowboy.
+
+"Well?" urged the Professor somewhat irritably.
+
+"Wal?" answered the cowboy.
+
+"Will you please tell us where we may find him, pardner?" spoke up Tad,
+observing how the land lay and wishing to head off friction.
+
+"I reckon that's him," answered the cowboy, pointing to the straight,
+athletic figure of the old man.
+
+Tad grinned at Chunky.
+
+"That's our guide, Bub."
+
+"He looks fierce enough to be a man eater."
+
+"I'm afraid of him," whispered Stacy.  "He's mysterious looking, too;
+like the Canyon."
+
+Professor Zepplin strode up to the old man.
+
+"Mr. Nance, I believe."
+
+"Y-a-a-s," drawled the old man.
+
+The Professor introduced himself, then one by one called the boys up
+and presented them, the old man gazing keenly with twinkling, searching
+eyes into the face of each one presented to him.  Chunky said "ouch"
+when Nance squeezed his hand, then backed off.
+
+"This is Mr. Nance, the gentleman who is to be our guide," announced
+Professor Zepplin.
+
+"We're all glad to see you, Mr. Nance," chorused the Pony Riders.
+
+"Ain't all tenderfeet, eh?" quizzed the guide.
+
+"No, not exactly.  They have been out for some time.  They are pretty
+well used to roughing it," declared the Professor.
+
+"Good idea.  They'll think they haven't before they get through with
+the old Grand."
+
+"How about our ponies?" asked Tad.  "Have you engaged them?"
+
+"You pick 'em out.  I'll take yon to corral after you've had your
+dinner."
+
+All hands walked across the street to a hotel, where they sat down to
+the first satisfying meal they had eaten since leaving home.
+
+"This beats the spirit meals we've been having on board the train,"
+announced Stacy, his eyes roving longingly over the heaped up dishes.
+
+"Don't lick your chops," cautioned Ned.  "There are some polite folks
+here, as you can see.
+
+"What's that you said about spirit meals?" quizzed the guide after they
+had gotten started with their dinner.
+
+"The kind a fellow I knew used to make for his men on the farm,"
+answered Stacy promptly.
+
+"Tell us about it.  I never heard you mention it," urged Tad.
+
+"He fed his men mostly on spirit soup.  Ever hear of spirit soup?"
+
+"I never did.  Any of you boys ever hear of spirit soup?"
+
+The Pony Riders shook their heads.  They were not particularly interested
+in Chunky's narration.  Ned frowned and went on with his dinner.
+
+"Well, this fellow used to make it.  He had barrels of the stuff,
+and-----"
+
+"How is the chuck made?" demanded Jim Nance.
+
+"I'll tell you.  To make spirit soup you catch a snipe.  Then you starve
+him to death.  Understand?"
+
+Nance nodded.
+
+"After you've starved him to death you hang him up on the sunny side
+of the house till he becomes a shadow.  A shadow, you understand?
+Well, after he's become a shadow you let the shadow drop into a
+barrel of rainwater.  The result is spirit soup.  Serve a teaspoonful
+a day as directed," added Stacy, coming to a sudden stop as Ned trod
+on his toes with a savage heel.
+
+Jim Nance's whiskers stood out, the ends trembling as if from the
+agitation of their owner, causing Chunky to shrink within himself.
+
+"Very unseemly, young man," rebuked the Professor.
+
+"It seems so," muttered Walter under his breath; then all hands
+laughed heartily.
+
+The meal being finished, Nance ordered a three-seated buckboard
+brought around.  Into this the whole outfit piled until the bottom
+of the vehicle bent almost to the ground.
+
+"Will it hold?" questioned the Professor apprehensively.
+
+"I reckon it will if it doesn't break.  We'll let the fat boy walk if
+we've got too big a load," Nance added, with a twinkle.
+
+"No, I'll ride, sir," spoke up Stacy promptly.  "I'm very delicate and
+I'm not allowed to walk, because-----"
+
+"How far is it out to the corral, Mr. Nance?" questioned Tad.
+
+"'Bout a mile as the hawk flies.  We'll be there in a jiffy."
+
+It appeared that all arrangements had been made by Mr. Perkins for the
+stock, through a bank in Flagstaff, where he had deposited funds to
+cover the purchase of stock and stores for the trip through the Canyon.
+This the Professor understood.  There remained little for the boys to
+do except for each to pick out the pony be fancied.
+
+They looked over the mustangs in the corral, asking the owner about
+this and that one.
+
+"I'll take that one," said Chunky, indicating a mild-eyed pinto that
+stood apparently half asleep.
+
+The owner of the herd of mustangs smiled.
+
+"Kind and sound, isn't he?" questioned the fat boy.
+
+"Oh, he's sound all right."
+
+"Do you know how to handle a pinto, boy?" questioned Nance.
+
+"Do I?  Of course I do.  Haven't I been riding the toughest critters
+on the ranges of the Rockies for years and years?  Don't I know how to
+rope anything that ambles on four legs?  Well, I guess!  Gimme that
+rope.  I'll show you how to fetch a sleepy pinto out of his dreams."
+
+The black that Chunky coveted seemed, at that moment, to have opened
+his eyes ever so little, then permitted the eyelids to droop.  It was
+not a good sign as Tad viewed it, and the Pony Rider was an excellent
+horseman.
+
+"Better be careful, Chunky," he warned.  "Shan't I rope him for you?"
+
+"I guess not.  If I can't rope him I'd like to see you do it."
+
+"Sail in.  You know best," answered Tad, with a grin, winking at Ned
+and the Professor.  Jim Nance appeared to take only a passive interest
+in the matter.  He might have his say later provided his advice were
+needed.
+
+Chunky ran his rope through his hands, then grasping the hondo, strode
+boldly into the corral.
+
+"I reckon it's time we were climbing the fence," announced Tad.
+
+"I reckon it is," agreed the guide, vaulting to the top rail, which
+action was followed by the other two boys, only the owner of the herd
+and Professor Zepplin remaining inside the corral with Stacy.
+
+Suddenly Stacy let go the loop of his lariat.  It dropped over the head
+of the sleepy pinto.  The pinto, at the touch of the rope, sprang into
+sudden life.  Then things began to happen in that corral.  Stacy Brown
+was the center of the happenings.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+TENDERFEET SHOW THEIR SKILL
+
+
+"Woof!" exclaimed Ned Rector.
+
+"Oh!" cried Walter Perkins.
+
+"Good boy! Hang on!" shouted Tad encouragingly.
+
+It is doubtful whether Stacy heard either the words of warning or those
+of encouragement from Tad, for at that moment Stacy's feet were up in
+the air.  The pinto had leaped forward like a shot the instant it felt
+the touch of the rope.  Of course Chunky, who had clung to the rope,
+went along at the same rate of speed.
+
+A great cloud of dust rose from the corral.  The mustang was darting
+here and there, bucking, squealing and kicking.  In a moment most of
+the other mustangs were doing likewise.  The owner of the herd, calling
+to the Professor, darted out, leaving one bar of the fence down.
+Professor Zepplin, becoming confused, missed his way and found himself
+penned into one corner at the far side, almost the center of a circle
+of kicking mustangs.
+
+Tad saw the danger of their companion almost at once.  The lad leaped
+down, and darting among the kicking animals, made his way toward the
+Professor just as Stacy's mustang leaped the bars.  Stacy's toes
+caught the top rail, retarding his progress for the briefest part
+of a second, then he shot out into the air after the racing mustang.
+
+"Leggo!" roared the boys.
+
+"Let go!" shouted the guide.  "The little fool!  Doesn't he know enough
+to come in out of the wet?"
+
+"You'll find he doesn't, sir.  Your troubles have only just begun.
+You'll be demanding an increase of wages before you have followed
+Stacy Brown for a full twenty-four hours," prophesied Ned.
+
+In the meantime Tad had reached the Professor, regardless of the
+flying hoofs about him.  With his rope the boy drove the animals off
+just in time.  Somehow they seemed to have taken it into their heads
+that the Professor was responsible for their having been disturbed
+and they were opening their hoof batteries upon him.  They gave way
+before the resolute young Pony Rider almost at once.  They recognized
+that this slender young plainsman and mountaineer was unafraid.
+
+The Professor was weak in the knees by the time he had been led out.
+
+"I didn't know you were in there," apologized Nance.
+
+"Where's Stacy?" was the Professor's first question.
+
+"He's gone by the air line," answered Walter.
+
+While all this had been taking place Chunky had continued in his mad
+flight for a short distance.  He had a long hold on the rope by which
+the mustang was hauling him.  The wary beast, espying a tree whose
+limbs hung low, changed his course and darted under the lowest of
+the limbs.  Its intention was plain to those who knew the habits of
+these gentle beasts.  The mustang intended to "wipe" the Pony Rider
+boy free of the line.
+
+Just before reaching the low-hanging limb the pinto darted to one
+side, then to the other after an almost imperceptible halt.  The
+result was the rope was drawn under the low limb.  A quick leap on
+the part of the mustang, that exhibited almost human intelligence by
+this manoeuvre, caused Chunky to do a picturesque flop over the limb,
+falling flat on his back on the other side.  This brought the mustang
+to a quick stop, for the rope had taken a firm hitch around the limb.
+
+The sudden jolt and stoppage of his progress threw the mustang on his
+nose, where he poised for a few seconds, then he too toppled over on
+his back.
+
+The owner of the herd was screaming with, merriment, Jim Nance was
+slapping his sides as he ran, while the Professor was making for the
+fat boy with long strides.
+
+Tad reached Stacy first.  The fat boy lay blinking, looking up at him.
+Stacy's clothes were pretty well torn, though his body did not seem
+to be harmed beyond the loss of considerable skin.
+
+"Let me have that rope," commanded Tad.
+
+"N-n-no you don't."
+
+"Let me have that rope, I tell you.  I'll attend to the pinto for you."
+
+"Here, give it to me," ordered Jim Nance, reaching for the rope which
+Tad Butler had taken.
+
+"I can handle him, Mr. Nance."
+
+The "handling" was not easy.  Tad was hauled over the best part of an
+acre of ground ere he succeeded finally in getting an opportunity to
+cast his own rope.  When, however, he did make the cast, the rope
+caught the pinto by a hind foot, sending the stubborn little beast to
+the ground.  Then Tad was jerked this way and that as the animal
+sought to kick the foot free.
+
+"Grab the neck rope some of you," he cried.
+
+Nance was the first to obey the command.  It was the work of but a
+moment temporarily to subdue the pinto.
+
+"Take him back.  We don't want the critter," ordered the guide.
+
+"I---I want him," declared Stacy, limping up to the former sleepy
+beast.
+
+"I'll break him so I guess Stacy can ride him," said Tad.  "Ned, will
+you fetch my saddle and bridle?  I can't let go here just yet.  Has
+this fellow ever been ridden?" demanded the boy, looking up at the owner.
+
+"I reckon he has, but not much."
+
+"Why did you let Brown rope the pinto, then?"
+
+"He said he wanted him."
+
+"Let him up," directed Tad.  The mustang had another spell, but ere
+he had finished his bucking Tad had skillfully thrown the saddle on
+and made fast the saddle girth at the risk of his own life.  Next came
+the bridle, which was not so easily put in place.  It was secured at
+last, after which the lad stepped back to wipe the perspiration from
+his face and forehead.  Dark spots on his khaki blouse showed where
+the sweat had come through the tough cloth.
+
+"Now I'll ride him," Butler announced.
+
+For the next quarter of an hour there followed an exhibition that won
+the admiration of all who saw it.  All the bucking and kicking that
+the pinto could do failed to unseat Tad Butler.  When finally he rode
+back to the group, Mr. Mustang's head was held straight out.  Once more
+the sleepy look had come into his eyes, but it was not the same crafty
+look that had been there before.  He was conquered, at least for the
+time being.
+
+"Now, Chunky, you may try him."
+
+"What do you think of that for riding?" demanded Stacy, turning to
+the guide.
+
+"Oh, he'll ride one of these days," answered the guide.
+
+"I believe you're a grouch," snorted the fat boy, as he swung into the
+saddle, quickly thrusting his toes into the stirrups, expecting to be
+bucked up into the air.
+
+But nothing of the sort followed.  The mustang was as meek as could be.
+Stacy rode the animal up and down the field until satisfied that the
+pinto was thoroughly broken.  Stacy was an object of interest to all.
+He was a very much banged-up gentleman, nor was Tad so very far behind
+him in that respect.
+
+Young Butler chose for his mount a mustang with a white face.  Already
+Tad had decided to call him Silver Face.  The two very quickly came
+to an understanding, after a lively but brief rustle about the enclosure.
+After this Tad roped out the pintos for the others of his party.  This
+done, the boys took their mustangs out into the field, where they tried
+them out.  The spectators were then treated to an exhibition of real
+riding, though the Pony Riders were not doing this for the sake of
+showing off.  They wanted to try their mounts out thoroughly before
+deciding to keep those they had chosen.
+
+At last they decided that the stock could stand as picked out, with
+the exception of Walter Perkins's mustang, which went lame shortly
+after the boy had started off with him.
+
+"I guess we are all right now," announced Tad, riding up to where the
+Professor and Jim Nance were standing.  "Has either of you any
+suggestions to offer?"
+
+"Hain't got no suggestions to offer to the likes of you," grumbled the
+guide.  "Where'd you learn to ride like that?"
+
+"Oh, I don't know.  It came natural, I guess," replied Tad simply.  "The
+others ride as well as I do."
+
+"Then we'll be moving.  I reckon you are figgering on gitting started
+to-day?"
+
+"Yes, we might as well be on our way as soon as you are ready, Mr.
+Nance," agreed the Professor.
+
+"How about the pack train?" asked Tad.
+
+"The mules are all ready," answered the guide.
+
+The lads rode their new horses back to Flagstaff.  None cared to ride
+in the buckboard long as there was a horse to ride.  Even the Professor
+thought he would feel at home in the saddle once more.  Nance observed
+that though Professor Zepplin was not the equal of the Pony Riders on
+horseback, yet he was a good man in the saddle.  Nance was observing
+them all.  He knew they would be together for some weeks and it was
+well to understand the peculiarities of each one of the party at the
+earliest possible moment.
+
+Reaching town the party found that the entire equipment for the pack
+train had been gotten in readiness.  There remained but to pack the
+mules and they would be ready for their start.  This was done with a
+will, and about two o'clock in the afternoon the outfit set off over
+the stage road, headed for the Grand Canyon.
+
+It was a happy party, full of song and jest and joy for that which was
+before them.  The way led through the Coconino Park.  Some three miles
+out they halted at the edge of a dry lake basin, in the centre of which
+was a great gaping hole.  The Professor pointed to it inquiringly.
+
+"There was a lake here up to a few years ago," explained Jim.  "Bottom
+fell out and the water fell in.  Ain't no bottom to it now at all"
+
+"Then---then the water must have leaked out on the other side of the
+world," stammered Chunky, his eyes big with wonder.
+
+"I reckon it must have soused a heathen Chinee," answered Nance, with
+a grin.
+
+"Pity it didn't fall out the other way and souse a few guides, eh?"
+questioned the fat boy, with a good-natured grimace at which Nance
+laughed inwardly, his shaking whiskers being the only evidence of
+any emotion whatever.
+
+"Up there is Walnut Canyon," explained Jim.  "Cliff dwellers lived up
+there some time ago."
+
+"Yes, we met some of them down south," nodded Chunky.
+
+"You mean we saw where they once lived long, long ago," corrected
+Professor Zepplin.
+
+"Yes, we saw where they lived," agreed Stacy.
+
+The way led on through a forest of pines, the trail underfoot being of
+lava, as hard and smooth as a road could be.  They were gradually
+drawing nearer to Sunset Mountain.  After a time they turned off to
+the right, heading straight for the mountain.
+
+Tad rode back to the Professor to find out where they were going.
+
+"I thought you boys might like to explore the mountain.  You will find
+some things there well worth scientific consideration."
+
+"Yes, sir; that will be fine."
+
+"You know the mountain was once a great volcano."
+
+"How long ago?" interrupted Stacy.
+
+"A few million years or so."
+
+"Mr. Nance must have been a boy in short trousers then," returned Stacy
+quizzically.  The guide's whiskers bristled and stood out straight.
+
+The road by this time had lost its hardness.  The ponies' hoofs sank
+deep into the cinders, making progress slow for the party.  They
+managed to get to the base of the mountain, but the mustangs were
+pretty well fagged.  The animals were turned out for the night after
+having been hobbled so that they could not stray far away.
+
+"Now each of you will have to carry a pack," announced the guide.
+"I will tell you what to take."
+
+"Why, where are we going?" asked Tad.
+
+"We are going to spend the night in the crater of the extinct volcano,"
+said the Professor.  "Will not that be a strange experience?"
+
+"Hurrah for the crater!" shouted the boys.
+
+"Speaking of volcanoes, I wish you wouldn't open your mouth so wide,
+Ned.  It makes me dizzy.  I'm afraid I'll fall in," growled Chunky.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+A NIGHT IN THE CRATER
+
+
+"What, climb that mountain?" demanded Stacy.
+
+"Surely.  You are not afraid of a mountain, are you?" demanded Tad.
+
+"I'm not afraid of---of anything, but I'm delicate, I tell yau."
+
+"Just the same, you'll pack about fifty pounds up the side of that hill,"
+jeered Ned Rector.
+
+The pack mules had not yet come up with their driver.  The party
+foreseeing this, had brought such articles as would be needed for the
+night.  Taking their blankets and their rifles, together with food and
+wood for a fire, they began the slow, and what proved to be painful,
+ascent of Sunset Mountain.
+
+A lava field stretched directly in front of them, barring the way.  Its
+forbidding surface had been riven by the elements until it was a perfect
+chaos of black tumult.  By the time the Pony Rider Boys had gotten over
+this rough stretch, they were ready to sit down and rest.  Nance would
+not permit them to do so.  He said they would have barely time to reach
+the crater before dark, as it was, and that they must make the best
+speed possible.  No one grumbled except Stacy, but it was observed that
+he plodded along with the others, a few paces to the rear.
+
+The Professor now and then would point to holes in the lava to show
+where explosions had taken place, bulging the lava around the edge and
+hurling huge rocks to a considerable distance.  As they climbed the
+mountain proper they found that Sunset, too, had engaged in some gunnery
+in those far-away ages, as was shown by many lava bombs lying about
+the base.
+
+The route up the mountain side was over a cider-buried lava flow, the
+fine cinders under foot soon making progress almost a torture.  Tad was
+the first to stand on his head as his feet went out from under him.
+Stacy, in a fit of uproarious laughter, did the next stunt, that of
+literally standing on his right ear.  Chunky tried to shout and got
+his mouth full of cinders.
+
+"I'm going back," howled the fat boy.  "I didn't come up here to climb
+slumbering volcanoes."
+
+"I'll tell you what I'll do, I'll carry you, Stacy," said Tad, smiling
+and nodding toward the cinder-blackened face of his companion.
+
+"You mean it?"
+
+"Of course I mean it."
+
+"I guess I can walk.  I'm not quite so big a baby as that."
+
+"I thought so.  Have your fun.  If you get into trouble you know your
+friend, Tad Butler, is always on the job."
+
+"You bet I do.  But this is an awful climb."
+
+It was all of that.  One step upward often meant a slide of several short
+steps backward.  The Professor's face was red, and unuttered words were
+upon his lips.  Jim Nance was grinning broadly, his whiskers bobbing up
+and down as he stumbled up the side of Old Sunset.
+
+"I reckon the tenderfeet will get enough of it before they get to the
+Canyon," chuckled the guide.
+
+"Say, Mr. Nance, we don't want to Mister you all the time.  What shall
+we call you for short?" asked Tad Butler.
+
+"Anything you want."
+
+"What d'ye say if we call you Whiskers?" called Stacy.
+
+"Stacy!" rebuked the Professor sternly.
+
+"Oh, let the little tenderfoot rant.  He's harmless.  Call me Whiskers,
+if it does ye any good."
+
+"I'm no tenderfoot," protested Chunky.
+
+"Nor be I all whiskers," returned the guide, whereat Chunky's face
+turned red.
+
+"I guess we'll call you Dad, for you'll have to be our dad for some time
+to come," decided Tad.
+
+"That'll be all right, providing it suits the fat little tenderfoot."
+
+Stacy did not reply to this.  He was having too much trouble to keep
+right side up just then to give heed to anything else.
+
+"Go zig-zag.  You'll never get to the top this way," called Tad.  "You
+know how a switchback railroad works?  Well, go as nearly like a
+switch-back as possible."
+
+"That's a good idea," agreed Dad.  "You'll get there quicker, as the
+young gentleman says."
+
+Tad looked at his companions, grinning broadly.  As they got nearer to
+the top the color of the cinders changed from black to a brick red.
+They began to understand why the peak of Sunset always presented such
+a rosy appearance.  It was due to the tint of the cinders that had been
+thrown from the mouth of the volcano ages ago.
+
+"We have now entered the region of perpetual sunset," announced the
+Professor.
+
+Chunky took advantage of the brief halt to sit down.  He slid back
+several feet on the treacherous footing.
+
+Still further up the mountain took on a rich yellow color, but near the
+rim it was almost white.  It was a wonderful effect and caused the
+Pony Riders to gaze in awe.  But darkness was approaching rapidly.  The
+guide ordered them to be on the way, because he desired to reach the rim
+of the crater while they still were able to see.  What his reasons were
+the boys did not know.  They took for granted that Dad knew his business,
+which Dad did.  He had spent many years in this rough country and knew
+it well.  The Grand Canyon was his home.  He lived in it the greater
+part of the year.  When winter came, Dad, with his mustang, his cattle
+and equipment would descend into the Grand Canyon far from snow and
+bitter cold into a land of perpetual summer, where, beside the roaring
+Colorado, he would spend the winter alone with his beloved Canyon.
+
+Dad's was a strange nature.  He understood the moods of the great gash
+in the plateau; he seemed literally to be able to translate the
+mysterious moans and whispers of the wind as it swirled between the
+rocky walls and went shrieking up the painted sides of the gulches.
+
+But of all this the boys knew nothing as yet.  It was all to be revealed
+to them later.
+
+"You'll have a look over the country tomorrow," said Dad.
+
+"Where is the Canyon?" asked Tad, eager for a view of the wonderful spot.
+
+"You'll get a glimpse of it in the morning.  You'll know the place when
+you get to it.  Here we be at the top.  There's the hole."
+
+Chunky peered into the crater rather timidly.
+
+"How do you get down?" he asked.
+
+"Slide," answered Ned.
+
+"I can do that, but what's at the bottom?"
+
+"The same thing.  Cinders and lava," answered Tad.  "What would you
+expect to find in a volcano?"
+
+"I'd never expect to find Stacy Brown in one, and I'm not sure that I'm
+going to."
+
+"All hands follow me.  There's no danger," called the guide, shouldering
+his pack and leaping and sliding down the sharp incline.  He was
+followed by the boys with shouts of glee.  They went tumbling head over
+heels, laughing, whooping, letting off their excess steam.  The
+Professor's grim face relaxed in a smile; Dad's eyes twinkled.
+
+"We'll take it out of them by and by," he confided to the Professor.
+
+"You don't know them," answered Professor Zepplin.  "Better men than
+you or I have tried it.  Remember, they are young.  We are old men.
+Of course, it is different with you.  You are hardened to the work,
+still I think they could tire both of us out."
+
+"We'll see about that."
+
+"Whoop-e-e!" came the voice of Tad Butler far below them.  "I'm at the
+bottom.  Any wild animals down here, Dad?"
+
+"Only one at present.  There'll be three more in a minute."
+
+"Six, you mean," laughed Tad.
+
+The others had soon joined him.
+
+"How far are we from the surface?" asked Walter.
+
+"About five hundred feet down.  We're in the bowels of the mountain for
+sure, kid," answered the guide.
+
+"That's pretty tough on the mountain.  I'm afraid it will have a bad
+case of indigestion," laughed Tad.
+
+"You needn't be.  It has swallowed tougher mouthfuls than you are,"
+returned the guide, ever ready with an answer.
+
+"Dad's able to give as good as you send," laughed Ned.
+
+"That's good.  All the better for us," nodded Tad.  "What about some
+light?"
+
+"Unload the wood from your packs.  This is where you are glad you did
+pack some stuff."
+
+In a few minutes a fire was blazing, lighting up the interior of the
+crater.  The boys found themselves in a circular opening of almost
+terrifying roughness and something like a quarter of a mile across.
+Here, in ages past, the forces of Nature had been at work with fearful
+earnestness.  Weird shadows, mysterious shapes, somewhat resembling
+moving figures, were thrown by the flickering blaze of the camp fire.
+While the boys were exploring the crater Dad was busy getting the
+supper ready, talking with Professor Zepplin as he worked.
+
+The voices of the boys echoed from side to side of the crater, sounding
+strange and unreal.  The call to supper put an end to their explorations.
+They sat down with keen edges to their appetites.  It was their first
+meal in the open on this journey.  All were in high spirits.
+
+"I think we should agree upon our work for the future," declared the
+Professor.
+
+"Work?" exclaimed Chunky, opening wide his big eyes.
+
+"Yes.  It is not going to be all play during this trip."
+
+"We are willing to do our share," answered Ned.
+
+"Yes, of course we are," chorused Walt and Stacy, though there was no
+enthusiasm in the fat boy's tone.
+
+"I am of the opinion that you boys should take turns in cooking the
+meals, say one boy to cook for an entire day, another to take the job
+on the following day."
+
+"I'll cook my own," declared the guide.  "No tenderfoot experiments
+in my chuck."
+
+"They know how to cook, Mr. Nance," explained the Professor.
+
+"All right; they may cook for you," said the guide, with a note of
+finality in his tone.  He glanced up at the sky, held out his hand and
+shook his head.  Tad observed the movement.
+
+"What is it?" asked the boy.
+
+"It's going to snow," said Dad.
+
+Tad laughed, glancing at his companions.
+
+"What, snow in June?" questioned Stacy.
+
+"You must remember that you are a good many thousand feet up," the
+Professor informed him.
+
+"Up?  I thought I was down in a crater."
+
+"You are both up and down," spoke up Tad.
+
+"Yes, I'm usually up and down, first standing on my feet then on my
+head," retorted Stacy.  "How are we going to sleep?"
+
+"Same as usual.  Pick out your beds, then roll up in your blankets,"
+directed Dad.  "You are used to it, eh?"
+
+"Well," drawled Chunky, "I've slept in a good many different kinds of
+beds, but this is the first time I ever slept in a lava bed."
+
+True to Dad's prophecy, the snow came within half an hour.
+
+"Better turn in before the beds get too wet," advised Dad.
+
+All hands turned in.  Sleep did not come to the boys as readily as usual.
+They had been sleeping in real beds too long.  After a time the snow
+changed to rain in the warmth of the crater.  Chunky got up disgustedly.
+
+"I'm tired of sleeping in the bath tub," he declared.  "Think I'll move
+into the hall bedroom."
+
+Chuckles were heard from beneath other blankets, while Stacy, grumbling
+and growling, fussed about until he found a place that appeared to be
+to his liking.
+
+"When you get through changing beds perhaps you will give us a chance
+to go to sleep," called the guide.
+
+Stacy's voice died away to an indistinct murmur.  Soon after that quiet
+settled over the dark hole in the mountain.  The rain came down harder
+than ever, but by this time the Pony Rider Boys were asleep.  They
+neither heard nor felt the water, though every one was drenched to the
+skin.
+
+Toward morning Tad woke up with a start.  He thought something had
+startled him.  Just then an unearthly yell woke the echoes of the
+crater.  Yell upon yell followed for the next few seconds, each yell
+seeming to be further away than the preceding one, and finally dying
+out altogether.
+
+"It's Chunky!" shouted Tad, kicking himself free of his blankets and
+leaping up.  "Some thing's happened to Chunky!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+TAD LENDS HELPING HAND
+
+
+"What is it?  What is it?" cried the other boys, getting free of their
+blankets and in the confusion rolling and kicking about in the cinders.
+
+"What is it?" shouted the Professor, very much excited.
+
+Ned, dragging his blanket after him, had started to run about, not
+knowing which way to turn nor what had occurred.  In the meantime the
+guide and Tad had started in the direction from which the yells had
+seemed to come.
+
+"It was this way," shouted Tad.
+
+Ned headed them off running toward the west edge of the crater.  All at
+once a new note sounded.  With an unearthly howl Ned Rector disappeared.
+They heard his voice growing fainter, too, just as Stacy's had done.
+
+"They've fallen in!" cried Tad.
+
+"Everybody stand still!" commanded Dad.
+
+Recognizing that he was right, the others obeyed, with the exception of
+Tad Butler, who crept cautiously forward, feeling his way with the toes
+of his boots, that he too might not share the fate of his two companions.
+
+Dad, from somewhere about his person, produced a bundle of sticks which
+he lighted.  He was prepared for just such an emergency.  A flickering
+light pierced the deep shadows, just enough to show the party that two
+of their number had disappeared.
+
+"There is the place," cried Tad.  "It's a hole in the ground.  They've
+fallen in."
+
+"Chunky's always falling in," laughed Walter half hysterically.
+
+With his rope in hand, Tad sprang forward.
+
+"Light this way, please," called Butler.  "Hello, down there!" he cried,
+peering into the hole in the ground.
+
+"Hello!" came back a faint answer from Ned Rector.  "Get us out quick."
+
+"What happened?"
+
+"I don't know.  Chunky fell in and I fell on him."
+
+"Is he hurt?"
+
+"I don't know.  I guess I knocked the wind out of him."
+
+"How far down are you?" demanded Dad peering in, holding his torch low,
+exposing a hole about six feet square at the top, widening out as it
+extended downward.
+
+"I---I don't know.  It felt like a mile when I came down.  Hurry.  Think
+I want to stay here all night?"
+
+"If Stacy isn't able to help himself, tie the rope around his waist and
+we will haul him up," directed Tad.
+
+"Serve him right to leave him here," retorted Ned.
+
+"All right, we will leave you both there, if you feel that way," answered
+Nance grimly.
+
+"He doesn't mean it," said Tad.  "Ned must have his joke, no matter how
+serious the situation may be." Tad lowered his rope, loop first.  "Well,
+how about it?" he called.
+
+"I've made it fast.  Haul away." Chunky was something of a heavy weight.
+It required the combined efforts of those at the top to haul him out.
+Dragging Stacy to the surface, Tad dropped beside the fat boy, giving
+him a shake and peering anxiously into his eyes, shouting, "Stacy!
+Stacy!"
+
+Chunky opened one eye and winked knowingly at Tad.
+
+"Oh, you rascal!  You've made us pull until we are out of breath.  Why'd
+you make a dead weight of yourself?"
+
+"Is---is he all right?" inquired Professor Zepplin anxiously.
+
+"He hasn't been hurt-----"
+
+"Yes, I have.  I'm all bunged up---I'm all shot to pieces.  The---the
+mountain blew up and-----"
+
+"Well, are you fellows going to leave me down here all the rest of the
+night?" demanded the far-away voice of Ned Rector.
+
+"Yes, you stay there.  You're out of the wet," answered Stacy.
+
+"That's a fine way to talk after I have saved your life almost at the
+expense of my own."
+
+"Pshaw! Saved my life!  You nearly knocked it all out of me when you
+fell on top of me."
+
+"Here comes the rope, Ned," called Tad.  "If you can help us a little
+you will make the haul easier for us."
+
+"I'll use my feet."
+
+"Better take a hitch around your waist in case you should slip," advised
+Butler.
+
+Ned did so, and by bracing his feet against the side of the rock he was
+able to aid them not a little in their efforts to haul him to the
+surface.  Ned fixed Stacy with stern eye.
+
+"Were you bluffing all the time?" he demanded.
+
+"Was I bluffing?  Think a fellow would need to bluff when a big chump
+like you fell in on him?  I thought the mountain had caved in on me, but
+it was something softer than a mountain, I guess," added Stacy
+maliciously.
+
+"What did happen?" demanded Ned, gazing at the hole wonderingly.
+
+"It's one of those thin crusts," announced the guide, examining the
+broken place in the lava with critical eyes, in which occupation the
+Professor joined.
+
+"Yes, it was pretty crusty," muttered Chunky.
+
+"You see, sir, this occurs occasionally," nodded the guide, looking up
+at the grizzled face of Professor Zepplin.  "One never knows in this
+country when the crust is going to give way and let him down.  I guess
+the rain must have weakened the ground."
+
+"And I fell in again," growled Stacy.
+
+"You were bound to fall in sooner or later," answered Tad.  "Perhaps it
+is just as well that you fell in a soft place."
+
+"A soft place?" shouted Stacy.  "If you think so, just take a drop in
+there yourself."
+
+"I thought it was the softest thing I ever fell on," grinned Rector,
+whereupon the laugh was on Stacy.
+
+There was no more sleep in the camp in the crater of Sunset Peak that
+night.  Nor was there fire to warm the campers.  They walked about
+until daylight.  That morning they made a breakfast on cold biscuit
+and snowballs at the rim of the crater.  But as the sun came out they
+felt well repaid for all that they had passed through on the previous
+night.  Such a vista of wonderful peaks as lay before them none of the
+Pony Riders ever had gazed upon.
+
+To the west lay the San Francisco Peaks, those ever-present landmarks
+of northern Arizona.  To the south the boys looked off over a vast area
+of forest and hills, while to the east in the foreground were grouped
+many superb cinder cones, similar to the one on which they were
+standing, though not nearly so high.  Lava beds, rugged and barren,
+reached out like fingers to the edge of the plateau as if reaching for
+the far-away painted desert.
+
+"Where is the Canyon?" asked Tad in a low voice.
+
+"Yonder," said Dad, pointing to the north over an unbroken stretch of
+forest.  There in the dim distance lay the walls of the Grand Canyon,
+the stupendous expanse of the ramparts of the Canyon stretching as far
+as the eye could see.
+
+"How far away are they?" asked Tad.
+
+"More than forty miles," answered Dad.  "You wait till we get to the
+edge.  You can't tell anything about those buttes now."
+
+"What is a butte---how did they happen to be called that?" asked Walter.
+
+"A butte is a butte," answered the guide.
+
+"A butte is a bump on the landscape," interjected Stacy.
+
+"A butte is a mound of earth or stone worn away by erosion," answered
+the Professor, with an assurance that forbade any one to question the
+correctness of his statement.
+
+"Yes, sir," murmured the Pony Rider Boys.  "A wart on the hand of fair
+Nature, as it were," added Chunky under his breath.
+
+"Come, we must be on our way," urged Dad.  "We want to make half the
+distance to the Canyon before night.  I reckon the pack train will have
+gone on.  We'll have to live on what we have in our saddle bags till
+we catch up with the train, which I reckon we'll do hard onto noon."
+
+No great effort was required to descend Sunset Mountain.  It was one
+long slide and roll.  The boys screamed with delight as they saw the
+dignified Professor coasting and taking headers down the cinder-covered
+mountain.
+
+By this time the clothes of the explorers had become well dried out in
+the hot sun.  When they reached the camp they found that the pack train
+had long since broken camp and gone on.
+
+"Where are the ponies?" cried Walter, looking about.
+
+"I'll get them," answered Dad, circling the camp a few times to pick up
+the trail.
+
+It will be remembered that the animals had been hobbled on the previous
+afternoon and turned loose to graze.  Dad found the trail and was off
+on it running with head bent, reminding the boys of the actions of a
+hound.  While he was away Tad cooked breakfast, made coffee and the
+others showed their appreciation of his efforts by eating all that was
+placed before them and calling loudly for more.  Dad returned about an
+hour later, riding Silver Face, driving the other mustangs before him.
+When the boys saw the stock coming in they shouted with merriment.  The
+mustangs had been hobbled by tying their fore feet together.  This made
+it necessary for the animals to hop like kangaroos.  The boys named them
+the kangaroos right then and there.
+
+Tad had some hot coffee ready for Nance by the time Dad got back.  The
+guide forgot that he had declared against eating or drinking anything
+cooked by the Pony Rider Boys.  He did full justice to Tad's cooking,
+while the rest of the boys stood around watching the guide eat, offering
+suggestions and remarks.  Dad took it all good-naturedly.  He would have
+plenty of opportunities to get back at them.  Dad was something of a
+joker himself, though this fact was suspected only by Tad Butler, who
+had noted the constantly recurring twinkle in the eyes of the guide.
+
+"We shall hear from Dad one of these days," was Butler's mental
+conclusion.  "All right, we deserve all we get and more, I guess."
+
+Shortly afterwards the party was in the saddle, setting out for their
+forty-mile ride in high spirits.  They hoped to reach their destination
+early on the following morning.  Some of the way was dusty and hot,
+though the greater part of it was shaded by the giant pines.
+
+They caught up with the pack train shortly before noon, as Nance had
+said they would.  A halt was made and a real meal cooked while the
+mustangs were watered and permitted to graze at the ends of their
+ropes.  The meal being finished, saddle bags were stocked as the party
+would not see the pack train again until some time on the following day.
+Then the journey was resumed again.
+
+The Pony Rider Boys were full of anticipation for what they would see
+when they reached the Canyon.  Dad was in a hurry, too.  He could
+hardly wait until he came in sight of his beloved Canyon.  But even with
+all their expectations the lads had no idea of the wonderful sight in
+store for them when they should first set eyes on this greatest of
+Nature's wonders.
+
+That night they took supper under the tall trees, and after a sleep of
+some three hours, were roughly awakened by the guide, who soon had them
+started on their way again.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+A SIGHT THAT THRILLED
+
+
+"We'll make camp here for a time, I reckon," announced Dad about two
+o'clock in the morning.
+
+"I thought we were going on to the Canyon," said Tad.
+
+"We shall see it in the morning," answered the guide somewhat evasively.
+"You boys turn in now, and get some sleep, for you will want to have
+your eyes wide open in the morning.  But let me give you a tip: Don't
+you go roaming around in the dark here."
+
+"Why---why not?" demanded Stacy Brown.
+
+"Oh, nothing much, only we're likely to lose your valuable company if
+you try it.  You have a habit of falling in, I am told.  You'll fall in
+for keeps if you go moseying about in this vicinity."
+
+"Where are we?" asked Butler.
+
+"'Bout half a mile from the El Tovar," answered Nance.  "Now you fellows
+turn in.  Stake down the pintos.  Isn't safe to let them roam around on
+two legs."
+
+Tad understood.  He knew from the words of Nance that they were
+somewhere in the vicinity of the great gash in the earth that they
+had come so far to see.  But he was content to wait until the morrow
+for the great sight that was before them.
+
+The sun was an hour high before they felt the heavy hand of Jim Nance
+on their shoulders shaking them awake.  The odor of steaming coffee
+and frying bacon was in the air.
+
+"What---sunrise?" cried Tad, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.
+
+"And breakfast?" added Ned.
+
+"Real food?" piped Stacy Brown.
+
+"Where do we wash?" questioned Walter.
+
+"You will have to take a sun bath," answered the guide with a twinkle.
+"There isn't any water near this place.  We will find water for the
+stock later in the morning."
+
+"But where is the Canyon?" wondered Tad.
+
+"You're at it."
+
+"I don't see anything that looks like a canyon," scoffed Ned.
+
+"No, this is a level plateau," returned Tad.  "However, I guess Dad
+knows what he is talking about.  I for one am more interested in what
+I smell just now than anything else."
+
+Chunky sniffed the air.
+
+"Well, it will take more than a smell to satisfy me this morning,"
+declared Chunky, wrinkling his nose.
+
+"This is my day to cook," called Tad.  "Why didn't you let me get the
+breakfast, Mr. Nance?"
+
+"I'm doing the cooking this morning.  I've had a long walk and feel
+fine, so I decided to be the cook, the wrangler and the whole outfit
+this morning.  How do you feel, boys?"
+
+"Fine!" chorused the Pony Riders.  "But we thought we should see the
+Canyon when we woke up this morning."
+
+A quizzical smile twitched the corners of Dad's mouth.  Tad saw that
+the guide had something of a surprise for them.  The lad asked no
+further questions.
+
+Breakfast finished, the boys cleared away the dishes, packing everything
+as if for a continuation of their journey, which they fully expected
+to make.
+
+A slight rise of ground lay a few rods ahead of them.  Tad started
+to stroll that way.  He halted as a party of men and women were seen
+approaching from the direction of El Tovar, where the hotel was located.
+
+"Now, gentlemen, you may walk along," nodded the guide, smiling broadly.
+
+"Which way?" asked the Professor.
+
+"Follow the crowd you see there."
+
+They saw the party step up to the rise, then a woman's scream smote their
+ears.  Tad, thinking something had occurred, dashed forward.
+
+He reached the level plateau on the rise, where his companions saw him
+halt suddenly, throwing both arms above his head.
+
+The boys started on a run, followed by the professor, who by this time
+was a little excited.
+
+Then all at once the glorious panorama burst upon them.  There at their
+very feet lay the Grand Canyon.  Below them lay the wonder of the world,
+and more than five thousand feet down, like a slender silver thread,
+rippled the Colorado.
+
+The first sight of the Canyon affects different persons differently.  It
+overwhelmed the Pony Rider Boys, leaving them speechless.  They shrank
+back as they gazed into the awful chasm at their feet and into which
+they might have plunged had the hour been earlier, for it had burst
+upon them almost with the suddenness of the crack of a rifle.
+
+They had thought to see mountains.  There were none.  What they saw was
+really a break in the level plateau.  From where they stood they looked
+almost straight down into the abyss for something more than a mile.
+Gazing straight ahead they saw to the other side of the chasm twelve
+miles away.  To the right and to the left their gaze reached more than
+twenty miles in each direction.
+
+This great space was filled with gigantic architectural constructions,
+with amphitheaters, gorges, precipices, walls of masonry, fortresses,
+terraced up to the level of the eyes, temples, mountain high, all
+brilliant with horizontal lines of color---streaks of hues from a few
+feet to a thousand feet in width, mottled here and there with all the
+colors of the rainbow.
+
+Such coloring, such harmony of tints the Pony Rider Boys never had gazed
+on before.  It seemed to them as if they themselves were standing in
+midair looking down upon a new and wonderful world.  There was neither
+laughter nor jest upon the lips of these brown-faced, hardy boys now.
+
+Professor Zepplin slowly took off his hat in homage to what was there
+at his feet.  He wiped the perspiration from his forehead.  A glance
+at Tad Butler showed tear drops glistening on his cheeks.  He was
+trembling.  Never before had a more profound emotion taken hold of him.
+Ned Rector and Walter Perkins's faces wore expressions of fear.  No
+other moment in the lives of the four boys had been like this.
+
+Dad's face shone as with a reflected light from the Canyon that he
+loved so well, and that had been his almost constant companion for
+more than thirty years; whose moods he knew almost as well as his own,
+and whose every smile or frown had its meaning for him.
+
+The travelers each forgot that there was any other human being than
+himself present.  They were drawn sharply to the fact that there
+were others present, when one of the little party of sight-seers that
+had come over from the hotel picked up a rock, the weight of which was
+almost too much for him.
+
+The lads watched him with fascinated eyes.  The man swung the rock back
+and forth a few times, then hurled it over the edge.  The Pony Rider
+Boys waited, actually holding their breath, to catch the report when
+the rock should strike the bottom.
+
+No report came.  It requires some little time for a rock to fall a mile,
+and when it does land it is doubtful if those at the other end of the
+mile would hear the report.
+
+The faces of the Pony Riders actually paled.  This was indeed the next
+thing to a bottomless pit.  Walter Perkins recalled afterwards that his
+head had spun dizzily, Ned that he was too frightened to move a muscle.
+
+Suddenly the silence was broken by a shout that was really an agonized
+yell.  The voice was Stacy Brown's.
+
+"Hold me! Somebody hold me!" he screamed
+
+The others glanced at him with disapproving eyes.  Could nothing impress
+Chunky?  The fat boy had begun to move forward toward the edge, both
+hands extended in front of him as to ward off something.
+
+"Hold me! I'm going to jump!  Oh, won't somebody hold me?"
+
+Even then only one in that little party appeared to understand.  They
+were paralyzed with amazement and unable to move a muscle.  The one who
+did see and understand was Tad Butler.  Chunky was giving way to an
+irresistible impulse.  He was at that instant being drawn toward the
+terrible abyss.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+ON THE RIM OF ETERNITY
+
+
+Tad caught his breath sharply.  He, too, for the instant seemed unable
+to move.  Then all at once he sprang forward, throwing himself upon the
+fat boy, both going to earth together, locked in a tight embrace.
+
+"Leggo! Leggo!" shrieked Stacy.
+
+The fat boy fought desperately.  He had appealed for help; now he
+refused to accept it.  He was possessed with a maddened desire to throw
+himself into the mile-deep chasm.  It was all Tad Butler could do at
+the moment to keep from being rolled to the rim himself.
+
+Dad, suddenly discovering the situation, ran at full speed toward the
+struggling boys.
+
+"Grab his legs.  I will look out for his shoulders," gasped Tad, sitting
+down on Chunky's face for a brief respite.
+
+"I'll handle him," said the guide quietly.  "They get taken that way
+sometimes when they first look into the hole."
+
+By this time the others, having shaken off the spell, started to move
+toward the scene of the brief conflict.  Dad waved them back; then,
+with Tad holding up the fat boy's shoulders, Dad with Chunky's feet in
+hand, the two carried him back some distance, where they laid him on
+the ground.  Stacy did not move.  His face was ghastly.
+
+"I think he has fainted---fainted away," stammered Tad.
+
+"Let him alone.  He'll be all right in a few minutes," directed the
+guide.
+
+"What made him do that?" wondered Tad, turning large eyes on Nance.
+
+"He jest couldn't help it.  I told you you'd see something, but I didn't
+think Fatty would be taken quite so hard.  You go back."
+
+"No, I'll wait.  You perhaps had better look after the others, Ned or
+the Professor might be taken the same way," answered Tad, with a faint
+smile.
+
+Nance hurried back.  After a time Chunky opened his eyes.  He sat up,
+looking dazed then he reached a feeble hand toward Tad.
+
+"I'd 'a' gone sure, Tad," he said weakly.
+
+"Nonsense!"
+
+"I would, sure."
+
+"Come back and look at it."
+
+"Not for a million, I wouldn't."
+
+"Oh, pooh!  Don't be a baby.  Come back, I tell you.  You've got to get
+over that fright.  We shall have to be around this canyon for some time.
+If you haven't any nerve, why-----"
+
+"Nerve?  Nerve?" queried Stacy, rousing himself suddenly.  "Talk about
+nerve!  Don't you think it takes nerve for a fellow to start in to jump
+off a rock a mile high?  Well, I guess it does.  Don't you talk to me
+about nerve."
+
+"There come the others."
+
+The Professor, the guide and the other boys walked slowly up to them at
+this juncture.  Chunky expected that Ned would make fun of him.  Ned did
+nothing of the sort.  Both Ned and Walter were solemn and their faces
+were drawn.  They sighed as if they had just awakened from a deep sleep.
+
+"What do you think of it, Professor?" asked Tad, looking up.
+
+"Words fail me."
+
+"I must have another look," announced Butler.
+
+He walked straight to the edge of the rim, then lying flat on his
+stomach, head out over the chasm, he gazed down into the terrible abyss.
+
+Jim Nance nodded approvingly.
+
+"He's going to love it just the same as I do."  The old man's heart
+warmed toward Tad Butler in that moment, when Tad, all alone, sought a
+closer acquaintance with the mystery of the great gash.  After a time
+the others walked back, Dad taking Chunky by the nape of the neck.
+Perhaps it was the method of approach, or else Chunky, having had his
+fright, had been cured.  At least this time he felt no fear.  He was
+lost in wonder.
+
+"Buck up now!" urged the guide.
+
+"I am bucked.  Leggo my neck.  I won't make a fool of myself this time,
+I promise you."
+
+"You can't blame him," said Tad, rising from his perilous position and
+walking calmly back to them.  "I nearly got them myself."
+
+"Got what?" demanded Stacy.
+
+"The jiggers."
+
+"That's it.  That describes it."
+
+Professor Zepplin, who had informed himself before starting out, now
+turned suddenly upon them.
+
+"He's going to give us a lecture.  Listen," whispered Tad.
+
+"Young gentlemen, you have, perhaps, little idea of the vastness of that
+upon which you are now gazing."
+
+"We know it is the biggest thing in the world, Professor," said Ned.
+
+"Imagine, if you can," continued the Professor, without heeding the
+interruption, "that this amphitheatre is a real theatre.  Allowing
+twice as much room as is given for the seat of each person in the most
+comfortable theatre in the world, and you could seat here an audience
+of two hundred and fifty millions of people.  These would all be in the
+boxes on this side."
+
+The boys opened their eyes at the magnitude of the figures.
+
+"An orchestra of one hundred million pieces and a chorus of a hundred
+and fifty million voices could be placed comfortably on the opposite
+side.  Can you conceive of such a scene?  What do you think of it?"
+
+"I---I think," stammered Chunky, "that I'd like to be in the box office
+of that show---holding on to the ticket money."
+
+Without appearing to have heard Stacy Brown's flippant reply, Professor
+Zepplin began again.
+
+"Now that you are about to explore this fairy land it is well that you
+be informed in advance as to what it is.  The river which you see down
+there is the Colorado.  As perhaps some of you, who have studied your
+geography seriously, may know, the river is formed in southern Utah by
+the confluence of the Green and Grand, intersecting the north-western
+corner of Arizona it becomes the eastern boundary of Nevada and
+California, flowing southward until it reaches the Gulf of California."
+
+"Yes, sir," said the boys politely, filling in a brief pause.
+
+"That river drains a territory of some three hundred thousand square
+miles, and from its source is two thousand miles long.  This gorge is
+slightly more than two hundred miles long.  Am I correct in my
+figures, Mr. Nance?" demanded the Professor, turning to Dad, a
+"contradict-me-at-your-peril" expression on his face.
+
+"I reckon you are, sir."
+
+"The river has a winding way-----"
+
+"That's the way with rivers," muttered Chunky to himself.
+
+"Millions of years have been consumed in the building of this great
+Canyon.  In that time ten thousand feet of non-conformable strata have
+been deposited, elevated, tilted, and washed away; the depression of
+the Canyon Surface serving for the depositing of Devonian, Lower
+Carboniferous, Upper Carboniferous, Permian, Triassic, Jurassic,
+Cretaceous; the formation of the vast eocene lake and its total
+disappearance; the opening of the earth's crust and the venting from
+its angry stomach the foul lavas---the mind reels and whirls and grows
+dizzy-----"
+
+"So do I," almost shouted Chunky, toppling over in a heap.  "Quit it!
+You make me sea sick-----"
+
+"I am amazed," bristled the Professor.  "I am positively amazed that
+a young gentleman---"
+
+"It was the whirling, reeling suggestion that made his head swim, I
+think, Professor," explained Tad, by way of helping out the fat boy.
+
+The lecture was not continued from that point just then.  The Professor
+postponed the rest of his recital until a more opportune time.
+
+"Will you go down to-day, or will you wait?" asked the guide.
+
+"I think we shall find quite enough here on the edge of the rim to
+occupy our minds for the rest of the day, Nance," returned the Professor.
+
+The boys agreed to this.  They did not feel as if they ever would want
+to leave the view that fascinated and held them so enthralled.  That day
+they journeyed over to the hotel for dinner.  The guests at the quaint
+hotel were much interested in the Pony Rider Boys, and late in the
+afternoon quite a crowd came over to visit Camp Grand, as the lads had
+named their camp after the pack train had arrived and the tents were
+pitched.
+
+There were four tents all pitched in a row facing the Canyon, the tents
+in a straight line.  In front the American flag was planted, the camp
+fire burning about midway of the line and in front, so that at night
+it would light up the entire company street.
+
+They cooked their own supper, Tad attending to this.  But the boys were
+too full of the wonderful things they had seen that day to feel their
+usual keen-edged appetite.
+
+The dishes put away, the Professor having become deeply absorbed in an
+argument with some gentlemen from the hotel regarding the "processes
+of deposition and subsidence of the uplift," Tad slipped away, leaving
+his chums listening to the conversation.  Dad was also listening in
+open-mouthed wonder that any human being could use such long words as
+were being passed back and forth without choking to death.  He was,
+however, so absorbed in the conversation that he did not at the moment
+note Butler's departure.  Tad passed out of sight in the direction of
+the Canyon.
+
+After a few moments had passed, Dad stirred the fire, then he too
+strolled off toward the rim.  Tad, fearless, regardless of the peril to
+himself, was lying flat on his stomach gazing down over the rim,
+listening to the mysterious voices of the Canyon.
+
+"I don't want you to be here, boy," said the guide gently.
+
+Though he had approached silently, without revealing his presence, Tad
+never moved nor started, the tone was so gentle, and then again the
+boy's mind was full of other things.
+
+"Why don't you want me here, Mr. Nance?"  Dad squatted down on the very
+edge of the rim, both feet banging over, one arm thrown lightly over
+Tad's shoulders.
+
+"You might fall."
+
+"What about yourself?  You might fall, too.  You are in more danger than
+am I."
+
+"Dad is not afraid.  The Canyon is his home---"
+
+"You mean you live here?"
+
+"The greater part of the year."
+
+"Where?"
+
+"Some day I will show you.  It is far, far down in my beloved Canyon,
+where the foot of the white man seldom strays.  Have you heard the
+strange voices of Dad's friend?"
+
+"Yes, Dad, I have heard.  I hear them now."
+
+Both fell silent.  The far away roar of the turbulent waters of the
+Colorado was borne to their listening ears.  There were other sounds,
+too, mysterious sounds that came like distant moans, rising and falling,
+with here and there one that sounded like a sob.
+
+"The spirit of the Canyon is sad to-night," murmured Dad.
+
+"Why, Dad, that was the wind sighing through the Canyon."
+
+"Yes, I know, but back of it all there is life, there is the very spirit
+of life.  I don't know how to explain it, but I feel it deep down inside
+of me.  I think you do, too."
+
+"Yes, Dad, I do."
+
+"I know you do.  It's a living thing to me, kid, as it will be to you
+after you know their voices better and they come to know you.  All
+those people," with a sweeping gesture toward the hotel where music and
+song were heard, "miss it all.  What they see is a great spectacle.  To
+see the Grand Canyon is to feel it in your heart.  Seeing it in any
+other way is not seeing it at all."
+
+"And do you live down there alone?"
+
+"Yes.  Why not?"
+
+"I should think you would long for human companionship."
+
+"What, with my beloved Canyon to keep me company?  No, I am never
+lonely," added Jim Nance simply.  "I shall live and die there---I hope,
+and I'll be buried down there somewhere There are riches down there too.
+Gold---much gold-----"
+
+"Why don't you go after it-----"
+
+Dad shook his head.
+
+"It would be like robbing a friend.  No, you may take the gold if you
+can find it, but Dad, never.  See, the moon is up.  Look!"
+
+It was a new scene that Tad gazed upon.  Vishnu Temple, the most
+wonderful piece of architecture in the Canyon, had turned to molten
+silver.  This with Newberry Terrace, Solomon's Throne, Shinto Temple
+and other lesser ones stood out like some wonderful Oriental city.
+
+All at once the quiet of the beautiful scene was disturbed by a bowl
+that was plainly the voice of Stacy Brown.  Stacy, his big eyes missing
+little that had been going on about him, had after a time stolen away
+after Tad and the guide.  His curiosity had been aroused by their
+departure and still more by the time they had been gone.  Chunky
+determined to go out and investigate for himself.
+
+He had picked his way cautiously toward the Canyon when he halted
+suddenly, his eyes growing large at what he saw.
+
+"Yeow! Look!" cried the fat boy.
+
+Both Jim Nance and Tad sprang up.  Those in the camp heard the shout and
+ran toward the rim, fearing that some harm had befallen Stacy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE CITY IN THE SKIES
+
+
+"What has happened now?" cried Tad, running forward.
+
+"Look, look!"
+
+Tad and the guide turned at the same instant gazing off across the
+Canyon.  At first Tad saw nothing more than he had already seen.
+
+"I---I don't-----"
+
+"It's up there in the skies.  Don't you see?" almost shouted Stacy,
+pointing.
+
+"What is it?  What is it?" shouted the others from the camp, coming up
+on a run.
+
+Then Tad saw.  High up in the skies, as plainly outlined as if it were
+not more than a mile away, was reflected a city.  Evidently it was an
+Eastern city, for there were towers, domes and minarets, the most
+wonderful sight he had ever gazed upon.
+
+"A---a mirage!"
+
+"Yes," said Dad.  "We see them here some times, but not often.  My
+friends down there are showing you many things this night.  Yes they
+never do that unless they are pleased.  The spirit of the Canyon is
+well pleased.  I was sure it would be."
+
+By this time the others had arrived.  All were uttering exclamations
+of amazement, only Tad and Dad being silent and thoughtful.  For
+several minutes the reflection hung suspended in the sky, then a
+filmy mist was drawn before it like a curtain.
+
+"Show's over," announced Chunky.  "That billion orchestra will now play
+the overture backwards."
+
+"Most remarkable thing I've ever seen," announced the Professor,
+whereupon he entered into a long scientific discussion on mirages with
+the gentlemen from the hotel.
+
+Tad and the guide followed them slowly back to camp.  The conversation
+soon became general.  Dad was drawn into it, but he spoke no more about
+the things he and Butler had talked of out on the rim of the Canyon,
+literally hanging between heaven and earth.
+
+"Well, what about to-morrow, Mr. Nance?" questioned the Professor, after
+the visitors had left them.
+
+"I reckoned we'd go down Bright Angel Trail," answered the guide.
+
+"Do we take the pack train with us?"
+
+Nance shook his head.
+
+"Too hard a trail.  Besides we can't get anywhere with the mules on that
+trail.  We've got to come back up here."
+
+"Aren't we going into the Canyon to stay?" asked Walter.
+
+"Yes.  We'll either go down Bass Trail or Grand View.  We can get the
+pack mules down those trails, but on the Bright Angel we'll have to
+leave the pintos before we get to the bottom and climb down."
+
+"Any Indians down there?" asked Ned.
+
+"Sure, there are Indians."
+
+"What's that, Indians?" demanded Stacy, alive with quick interest.
+
+"Yes.  There's a Havasupai camp down in Cataract Canyon, then there
+are always some Navajos gunning about to make trouble for themselves
+and everybody else.  The Apaches used to come down here, too, but we
+don't see them very often except when the Havasus give a peace dance
+or there's something out of the ordinary going on."
+
+"And do---do we see them?"
+
+"See the Indians?  Of course you'll see them."
+
+"Are they bad?" asked the fat boy innocently.
+
+"All Indians are bad.  However, the Havasus won't bother you if you
+treat them right.  Don't play any of your funny, sudden tricks on them
+or they might resent it.  They're a peaceable lot when they're let
+alone."
+
+"One of the gentlemen who were here this evening told me the Navajos,
+quite a party of them, had made a camp down near Bright Angel Gulch,
+if you know where that is," spoke up Professor Zepplin.
+
+Dad pricked up his ears at this.
+
+"Then they aren't here for any good.  The agent will be after them if
+they don't watch out.  I'll have a look at those bucks and see what
+rascality they're up to now," said Nance.
+
+"Any chance of a row?" questioned Ned.
+
+"No, no row.  Leastwise not for us.  Your Uncle Sam will look after
+those gentlemen if they get gay.  But they won't.  It will be some
+crooked little trick under cover---taking the deer or something of
+the sort."
+
+"Will we get any chance to shoot deer?" asked Walter.
+
+"You will not unless you are willing to be arrested.  It's a closed
+season from now till winter.  I saw a herd of antelope off near Red
+Butte this afternoon."
+
+"You must have eyes like a hawk," declared Stacy, with emphasis.
+
+"Eyes were made to see with," answered Nance shortly.
+
+"And ears to hear, and feet to foot with, and-----"
+
+"Young men, it is time you were in bed.  I presume Mr. Nance will be
+wanting to make an early start in the morning," said the Professor.
+
+"If we are to get back the same day we'll have to start about daybreak.
+It's a hard trail to pack.  You'll be ready to stretch your legs when
+we get back to-morrow night."
+
+The boys were not ready to use those same legs when they were turned
+out at daybreak.  There was some grumbling, but not much as they got up
+and made ready their hurried breakfast.  In the meantime Nance had
+gotten together such provisions as he thought they would need.  These
+he had packed in the saddle bags so as to distribute the weight. Shortly
+after breakfast they made a start, Dad going first, Tad following close
+behind.
+
+The first two miles of the Bright Angel Trail was a sort of Jacob's
+ladder, zigzagging at an unrelenting pitch.  Most of the way the boys
+had to dig their knees into the sides of their mounts to prevent
+slipping over the animals' necks.
+
+"This is mountain climbing backwards," jeered Stacy.
+
+"I don't know, but I guess I like it the other way," decided Walter,
+looking down a dizzy slope.
+
+"I hope my pony doesn't stumble," answered Ned.
+
+"You won't know much about it if he does," called Tad over his shoulder.
+
+"Never mind.  We'll borrow an Indian basket to bring you home,"
+laughed Stacy in a comforting voice.
+
+The trail was the roughest and the most perilous they had ever essayed.
+The ponies were obliged to pick their way over rocks, around sharp,
+narrow corners, where the slightest misstep would send horse and rider
+crashing to the rocks hundreds of feet below.  But to the credit of the
+Pony Rider Boys it may be said that not one of them lost his head for
+an instant.
+
+"How did this trail ever get such a name?" asked Tad of the guide.
+
+"Yes, I don't see any signs of angels hereabouts," agreed Chunky.
+
+"You never will unless you mend your ways," flung back Nance.
+
+"Oh, I don't know.  There are others."
+
+"On the government maps this is called Cameron Trail, but it is best
+known by its original name, Bright Angel, named after Bright Angel creek
+which flows down the Canyon."
+
+"Where is Bright Angel Canyon?" asked Tad.
+
+"That's where the wild red men are hanging out," said Stacy.
+
+"That's some distance from here.  We shan't see it until some days
+later," replied the guide.  "This, in days long ago, was a Havasupai
+Indian trail.  You see those things that look like ditches?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Those were their irrigating canals.  They knew how to irrigate a long
+time before we understood its advantages.  Their canals conveyed large
+volumes of water from springs to the Indian Gardens beyond here.  Yonder
+is what is known as the Battleship Iowa," said the guide, pointing to
+the left to a majestic pile of red sandstone that capped the red wall of
+the Canyon.
+
+"Don't shoot," cried Stacy, ducking.
+
+"You'll be shooting down into the Colorado," warned Nance.  "You'd
+better watch out."
+
+The rock indicated did very much resemble a battleship.  The boys
+marveled at it.  Then a little further on they came upon a sandstone
+plateau from which they could look down into the Indian Garden,
+another plateau rich with foliage, green grass and a riot of flowers.
+It was like looking into a bit of the tropics.
+
+"Here is the worst piece of trail we have yet found," called Nance.
+"Go carefully," he directed when they reached the "blue lime."  For the
+next few minutes, until they had passed over this most dangerous portion,
+little was said.  The riders were too busy watching out for their own
+safety, the Professor, examining the different strata of rocks that so
+appeal to the geologist.  He was entranced with what he beheld about
+him.  Professor Zepplin had no time in which to enjoy being nervous.
+
+From there on to the Garden they rode more at ease in the "Boulder Bed,"
+where lay large blocks of rock of many shapes and sizes that had rolled
+from some upper strata.  Small shrubs and plants grew on every hand,
+many-hued lizards and inquisitive swifts darted across the trail, acting
+as if they resented the intrusion.
+
+Chunky regarded the lizards with disapproving eyes.  But his thoughts
+were interrupted by the voice of the guide pointing out the Temple of
+Isis that looks down six thousand feet into the dark depths of the
+inner abyss, surrounded by innumerable smaller buttes.  The wonderful
+colorings of the rocks did not suffer by closer inspection; in fact,
+the colors appeared to be even brighter than when viewed from the rim
+a few thousand feet above them.
+
+Indian Garden was a delight.  They wanted to tarry there, but were
+allowed to do so only long enough to permit horses and riders to
+refresh themselves with the cold water that trickled down through the
+canals from the springs far above.
+
+Reaching the end of Angel Plateau they gazed down a sheer descent of
+twelve hundred feet into the black depths of the inner gorge, where
+flowed the Colorado with a sullen roar that now was borne plainly to
+their ears.
+
+"It sounds as I have heard the rapids at Niagara do," declared Chunky
+somewhat ambiguously.
+
+"All off!" called the guide.
+
+"What's off?" demanded Chunky.
+
+"Dismount."
+
+"Is this as far as we go?" questioned Tad.
+
+"It is as far as we go on the pintos.  We have to climb down the rest
+of the way, and it's a climb for your life."
+
+The boys gazed down the wall to the river gorge.  The prospect did not
+look very inviting.
+
+"I guess maybe I'd better stay here and mind the 'tangs'," suggested
+Stacy, a remark that brought smiles to the faces of the other boys.
+
+"No, you'd be falling off if we left you here," declared Dad.  "You'll
+go along with us."
+
+Before starting on the final thousand feet of the descent the trappings
+were removed from the horses, after which the animals were staked down
+so that they might not in a moment of forgetfulness fall over the wall
+and be dashed to pieces on the rocks below.
+
+Dad got out his climbing ropes, the boys watching the preparations with
+keen interest.
+
+"Are you going down, Professor?" asked Tad smilingly.
+
+"Certainly I am going down.  I for one have no intention of remaining
+to watch the stock," with a grim glance in Chunky's direction.  Chunky
+saw fit to ignore the fling at him.  He was gazing off across the chasm
+at the Temple of Isis, which at that moment absorbed his full attention.
+
+"Now I guess we are ready," announced the guide finally.  "I will go
+first.  In places it will be necessary to cling to the rope.  Don't
+let go.  Then, in case you stumble, you won't get the nasty fall that
+you otherwise would be likely to get."
+
+Away up, just below the Indian Garden, they picked up the slender trail
+that led on down to the roaring river.  They had never had quite such a
+climb, either up or down.
+
+Every time they looked down they saw a possible fall upon rough,
+blade-like granite edges.
+
+"We'd be sausage meat if we landed on those," declared Chunky.
+
+"You are likely to go through the machine if you don't pay closer
+attention to your business," answered Dad.
+
+Carefully, cautiously, laboriously they lowered themselves one by one
+over the steep and slippery rocks, down, down for hundreds of feet until
+they stood on the ragged edge of nowhere, a direct drop of several
+hundred feet more before them.
+
+The guide knew a trail further on, so they crept along the smooth wall
+of the Canyon with scarcely room to plant their feet.  A misstep meant
+death.
+
+"Three hundred feet and we shall be there," came the encouraging voice
+of the guide.  "Half an hour more."
+
+"I could make it half a minute if I wanted to," said Stacy.  "But I
+don't want to.  I feel it my duty to stay and look after my friends."
+
+"Yes, your friends need you," answered Ned sarcastically.  "If they
+hadn't I never should have pulled you out of the hole in the crater."
+
+"I was just wondering how Chunky could resist the temptation of
+falling in here.  He'll never have a better opportunity for making a
+clean job of said Walter.
+
+"He has explained why," replied Tad.  "We need him.  Of course we do.
+We need him every hour-----"
+
+"And a half," added Ned.
+
+The roar of the river became louder as they descended.  Now they were
+obliged to raise their voices to make themselves heard.  The Professor
+was toiling and sweating, but making no complaint of the hardships.
+He was plucky, as game as any of those hardy boys for whom he was the
+companion, and they knew it.
+
+"Hold on here!" cried Stacy, halting.
+
+All turned to see what was wrong.
+
+"I want to know---I want to know before I take another step."
+
+"Well, what do you want to know?" demanded Tad.
+
+"If it's all this trouble to climb down, I want to know how in the name
+of Bright Angel Trail we're ever going to be able to climb up again!"
+
+"Fall up, of course," flung back the guide.  "You said this was
+mountain climbing backwards.  It'll be that way going back," chuckled
+the guide.
+
+"And I so delicate!" muttered the lad, gazing up the hundreds of feet
+of almost sheer precipice.  But ere the Pony Rider Boys scaled those
+rocks again they would pass through some experiences that were far from
+pleasurable ones.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+CHUNKY WANTS TO GO HOME
+
+
+Instead of a half hour, as had been prophesied, a full hour elapsed
+before they reached the bottom of the trail that was practically no trail
+at all.  Tad was sure that the guide couldn't find his way back over the
+same ground, or rather rock, to save his life, for the boy could find
+nothing that looked as if the foot of man had ever trodden upon it
+before.  He doubted if any one had been over that particular trail from
+the Garden on.
+
+As a matter of fact, Dad had led them into new fields.  But at last they
+stood upon the surer foundation of the bottom of the chasm.
+
+"Anyone needs to be a mountain goat to take that journey," said Tad, with
+a laugh.
+
+"No, a bird would be better," piped Stacy.
+
+"I'd rather be a bug, then I wouldn't have to climb," spoke up Walter.
+
+"Hurrah!  Walt's said something," shouted Ned.
+
+By this time Nance and the Professor had walked along, climbing over
+boulders, great blocks of stone that had tumbled from the walls above,
+making their way to the edge of the river.
+
+The others followed, talking together at the tops of their voices,
+laughing and joking.  They felt relieved that the terrible climb had
+come to an end.  As they approached the river, their voices died away.
+It was a sublime but terrifying spectacle that the Pony Rider Boys gazed
+upon.
+
+"This is more wonderful than Niagara," finally announced the Professor.
+"The rapids of the Niagara River would be lost in this turbid stream."
+
+Great knife-like rocks projected from the flood.  When the water struck
+these sharp edges it was cleanly cut, spurting up into the air like
+geysers, sending a rainbow spray for many yards on either side.
+
+What puzzled the lads more than all else were the great leaping waves
+that rose without apparent cause from spaces of comparatively calm
+water.  These upturning waves, the guide explained, were the terror of
+explorers who sought to get through the Canyon in boats.
+
+"Has any one ever accomplished it?" asked Tad.
+
+"Yes; that intrepid explorer, Major J.W. Powell, made the trip in the
+year 1869, one of the most thrilling voyages that man ever took.  Several
+of his men were lost; two who managed to escape below here were killed
+by the Indians."
+
+"I think I should like to try it," said Tad thoughtfully.
+
+"You won't, if I have anything to say about the matter," replied Dad
+shortly.
+
+"No one would imagine, to gaze down on this stream from the rim, that
+it was such a lively stretch of water," remarked the boy.  "It doesn't
+seem possible."
+
+"Yes, if they had some of this water up on the plateau it would be
+worth almost its weight in gold," declared Nance.  "Water is what
+Arizona needs and what it has precious little of.  Speaking of the
+danger of the river," continued Nance, "it isn't wholly the water, but
+the traveling boulders."
+
+"Traveling boulders!" exclaimed the boys.
+
+"Yes.  Boulders weighing perhaps a score or more of tons are rolled
+over and over down the river by the tremendous power of the water,
+almost with the force and speed of projectiles.  Now and again they
+will run against snags.  The water dashing along behind them is
+suddenly checked under the surface.  The result is a great up-wave,
+such as you have already observed.  They are just as likely to go
+downward or sideways as upward.  You never know."
+
+"Then that is the explanation of the cause of those up-waves?" asked
+the Professor.
+
+"That's the way we figure it out.  But we  may be wrong.  Take an old
+man's advice and don't monkey with the river."
+
+"I thought you said Dad's beloved Canyon would not hurt him," said Tad
+teasingly.
+
+"Dad's Canyon won't.  The river isn't Dad's The river is a demon.  The
+river would scream with delight were it to get Dad in its cruel
+clutches," answered the old man thoughtfully, his bristling whiskers
+drooping to his chest.  "Are you boys hungry?"
+
+The boys were.  So Dad sought out a comfortable place where they might
+sit down, a shelf some twenty feet above the edge of the river, whence
+they could see the turbulent stream for a short distance both ways.  It
+was a wonder to them where all the water came from.  The Professor
+called attention to his former statement that the river drained some
+three hundred thousand miles of territory.  This explanation made the
+matter clearer to them.
+
+Coffee was made, the ever-ready bacon quickly fried and there in the
+very heart of the Grand Canyon they ate their midday meal.  Never
+before had they sat down to a meal amid such tremendous forces.
+
+The meal having been finished and Dad having stretched himself out on
+a rock after his dinner, the boys strolled off along the river,
+exploring the various crevices.
+
+"Isn't there gold down here?" asked Tad, returning to the shelf.
+
+Dad sat up, stroking his whiskers thoughtfully.
+
+"I reckon you would find tons of it in the pockets of the river if she
+were to run dry," was the amazing reply.
+
+"But," protested Tad, "is there no way to get it?"
+
+"Not that man knows of.  The Almighty, who made the whole business here,
+is the only one who is engineer enough to get that gold.  No, sir, don't
+have any dreams about getting that gold.  It isn't for man, at least not
+yet.  Maybe He to whom it belongs is saving it for some other age, for
+folks who need it more than we do."
+
+"Nobody ever will need it more than we do," interposed Stacy.  "Why, just
+think, I could buy a whole stable full of horses with what I could get
+out of one of those pockets."
+
+"Maybe I'll show you where you can pan a little of the yellow out, before
+you finish your trip."
+
+Later in the day the guide decided that it was time to start for the
+surface again.  But the boys begged to be allowed to remain in the
+Canyon over night.  It was an experience that they felt sure would be
+worth while.  For a wonder, Professor Zepplin sided with them in this
+request.
+
+"Well, I'll go up and water the stock, then if you want to stay here,
+why, all right," decided Dad.
+
+"I will go with you," said Tad.
+
+"Professor, I'll leave the rest of the boys in your charge.  Don't let
+them monkey with the river.  I don't want to lose anybody this trip.
+Fall in there, and you'll bring up in the Pacific Ocean---what's left
+of you will.  Nothing ever'll stop you till you've hit the Sandwich
+Islands or some other heathen country."
+
+The boys promised and so did the Professor, and both men knew the lads
+would keep their word, for by this time they held that stream in
+wholesome respect.
+
+Chunky, after the guide and Tad had left, perched himself on the point
+of a rock where he lifted up his voice in "Where the Silvery Colorado
+Wends Its Way," Ned Rector occupying his time by shying rocks at the
+singer, but Chunky finished his song and had gotten half way through it
+a second time before one of Ned's missiles reached him.  That put an
+end to the song and brought on a rough and tumble fight in which Ned
+and Stacy were the sole participants.  Chunky, of course, got the worst
+of it.  The two combatants locked arms and strolled away down the river
+bank after Chunky had been sufficiently punished for trying to sing.
+
+Night in the canyon was an experience.  The roaring of the river which
+no longer could be seen was almost terrifying.  Then, too, a strange
+weird moaning sounded all about them.  Dad, who had returned, explained
+that it was supposed to be the wind.  He confided to Tad that it was
+the spirit of the Canyon uttering its warning.
+
+"Warning of what?"
+
+"I don't know.  Maybe a storm.  But you can believe something's going
+to come off, kid," answered Nance with emphasis.
+
+Something did come off.  Tad and Nance had fetched the blankets of the
+party back with them, together with two large bundles of wood for the
+camp fire, which materials they had let down from point to point at the
+end of their ropes.  Tad had learned always to carry his lasso at his
+belt.  It was the most useful part of his equipment.  He had gotten
+the other boys into the habit of doing the same.  Rifles had been left
+in the camp above, as they were a burden in climbing down the rocks.
+But all hands carried their heavy revolvers.
+
+A very comfortable camping place was located Under an overhanging shelf
+of rock, the camp fire just outside lighting up the chamber in a most
+cheerful manner.  There after supper the party sat listening to Dad's
+stories of the Canyon during some of his thirty years' experience with
+it.
+
+The wind was plainly rising.  It drew the flames of the fire first in
+one direction, then in another.  Nance regarded the signs questioningly.
+After a little he got up and strolled out to the edge of the roaring
+river.  Tad and Chunky followed him.
+
+"We are going to have a storm," said Dad.
+
+"A heavy one?" asked Tad.
+
+"A regular hummer!"
+
+"Rain?"
+
+"Everything.  The whole thing.  I'm sorry now that we didn't go back up
+the trail, but maybe we'd never got up before we were caught.  However,
+we're pretty safe down here, unless-----"
+
+"Unless what?" piped Chunky.
+
+"Unless we get wet," answered Nance, though Tad knew that was not what
+was in the guide's mind.
+
+Just as they were turning back to the camp there came an explosion that
+seemed as if the walls of the Canyon had been rent in twain.  Chunky
+uttered a yell and leaped straight up into the air.  Tad took firm hold
+of the fat boy's arm.
+
+"Don't be a fool.  That was thunder and lightning.  The lightning struck
+somewhere in the Canyon.  Isn't that it, Dad?"
+
+Nance nodded.
+
+"It's always doing that.  It's been plugging away at Dad's Canyon for
+millions of years, but the Canyon is doing business at the same old
+stand.  I hope those pintos are all right up there," added the guide
+anxiously.
+
+"Mebby they're struck," suggested Stacy.
+
+"Mebby they are," replied Nance.  "Come, we'll be getting back unless
+you want to get wet."
+
+A dash of rain followed almost instantly upon the words.  The three
+started at a trot for the camp.  They found the Professor and his two
+companions anxiously awaiting their return.
+
+"That was a severe bolt," said the Professor.
+
+"Always sounds louder down here, you know," replied Dad.  "Echoes."
+
+"Yes, I understand."
+
+"Is---is it going to rain?" questioned Walter.
+
+"No, it's going to pour," returned Chunky.  "You'll need your rubber
+boots before long."
+
+"Move that camp fire in further," directed Nance.  "It'll be drowned out
+in a minute."
+
+This was attended with some difficulty, but in a few minutes they had
+the fire burning brightly under the ledge.  Then the rain began.  It
+seemed to be a cloudburst instead of a rain.  Lightning was almost
+incessant, the reports like the bombardment of a thousand batteries of
+artillery, even the rocks trembling and quaking.  Chunky's face grew
+pale.
+
+"Say, I want to go home," he cried.
+
+"Trot right along.  There's nothing to stop ye," answered the guide
+sarcastically.
+
+"Afraid?" questioned Ned jeeringly.
+
+"No, I'm not afraid.  Just scared stiff, that's all," retorted the fat
+boy.
+
+The shelf of rock that sheltered them had now become the base of a
+miniature Niagara Falls.  The water was pouring over it in tons, making
+a roaring sound that made that of the river seem faint and far away.
+
+Jim Nance was plainly worried.  Tad Butler saw this and so did the
+Professor, but neither mentioned the fact.  Their location was no
+longer dry.  The spray from the waterfall had drenched them to the
+skin.  No one complained.  They were too used to hardships.
+
+All at once there came a report louder and different from the others,
+followed by a crashing, a thundering, a quaking of the rocks beneath
+their feet, that sent the blood from the face of every man in the
+party.  Even Dad's face grayed ever so little.
+
+The next second each one was thrown violently to the ground.  A sound
+was in their ears as if the universe had blown up.
+
+"We're killed!" howled Chunky.
+
+"Help, help!" yelled Walter Perkins.
+
+"What---what is it?" roared the Professor.
+
+"We're struck!" shouted Tad.
+
+"Lie still.  Hug the wall!" bellowed the stentorian voice of Jim Nance,
+who himself had crept closer to the Canyon wall and lay hugging it
+tightly.
+
+The deafening, terrifying reports continued.  One corner of the ledge
+over their heads split off, sending a volley of stones showering over
+them, leaving the faces of some of the party flecked with blood where
+the jagged particles had cut into their flesh.
+
+It was a terrible moment for the Pony Rider Boys.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+ESCAPE IS WHOLLY CUT OFF
+
+
+Not one could collect his thoughts sufficiently to reason out what had
+taken place.  The guide, however, had known from the first.  He feared
+that his charges would be killed, but there was nothing more that he
+could do.
+
+The bombarding continued, some explosions sounding near at hand, others
+further down or up the Canyon, but each of sufficient force to send
+shivers up and down the spines of the Pony Rider Boys.  They never had
+experienced anything approaching this.
+
+"I'm going to stand up," declared Tad, rising to his feet.  "I won't
+be killed any quicker standing than lying down.  Besides, I don't like
+to shirk."
+
+"Stand up if you want to, but keep close to the wall," ordered Dad,
+himself rising to his feet.
+
+One by one the boys got up, Professor Zepplin following the example of
+the guide.  They had to shout in speaking in order to make themselves
+heard above the bombardment, the roaring of the river and the cataract
+over their heads.
+
+"What is going on up there?" shouted Tad.
+
+"Mountain falling in!"
+
+"I knew it! I knew it!" yelled Chunky.  "I knew something would fall
+down as soon as I got here."
+
+No one laughed.  The situation was too serious for laughter.
+
+"Is it a land or a rock slide?" questioned Tad further.
+
+"Both," shouted Nance.  "Mostly boulders."
+
+The rain has loosened them and they are raining down on us.  We're lucky
+we had this shelf to get under."
+
+"From the present outlook I am afraid the shelf isn't going to protect
+us much longer," said Tad.
+
+"Keep close to the wall and you will be all right.  It won't break off
+short up to the wall.  I've seen rock slides, but never anything quite
+like this.  You see, the spirit of the Canyon was right," nodded Nance.
+
+"Spirits?  What spirits?" demanded Chunky.  "Is this place haunted?
+Don't tell me it is.  Haven't I got enough to worry me already without
+being chased by ghosts?
+
+"Chased by goats?" shouted the Professor.
+
+"Who said anything about goats?" retorted Stacy.  "I said g-h-o-s-t-s,
+spooks, spookees or spookors or whatever you've a mind to call them."
+
+"Oh, I hope you are not losing your mind, Stacy."
+
+"Might as well lose my mind as to lose my life.  Mind wouldn't be any
+use to me after I was dead, would it?"
+
+"The storm is dying out," called Ned.
+
+Tad started to step from under the shelf, Nance grasped and hauled him
+back.  Just then a great boulder, weighing many tons, struck the rock
+just above their heads, then bounded off into the river, which it
+struck with a mighty splash.  The contact with the rocks sent off a
+shower of sparks, a perfect rain of them.
+
+"I---I guess I need a guardian," said the lad rather weakly.
+
+"Yes, you probably would have been killed by the smaller pieces that
+broke off," answered Nance.  "Be content to stay where you are."
+
+"How long have we got to stay cooped up in this half cave?" demanded
+Stacy.
+
+"All night, maybe," answered Dad.
+
+"Good night!" said the fat boy, Slipping down until he had assumed a
+sitting posture.  He lay down and was asleep in a short time.  Stacy
+woke with a start when another giant rock smote the wall just above
+their cave, exploding into thousands of pieces from the violent contact.
+
+"Stop that noise!  How do you suppose a fellow's going to sleep
+when-----"
+
+Stacy struggled slowly to his feet when he saw the drawn faces of his
+companions.
+
+"Was that another of them?" he asked hesitatingly.
+
+"Yes," answered Tad, with a nod.  "It is grand, but terrible."
+
+"I don't see anything grand about it.  I guess I won't lie down again.
+I never can sleep any more after being awakened from my first nap,"
+declared the fat boy.
+
+No one slept for the rest of the night.  The bombardment continued at
+intervals all through the black, terrifying night.  The Colorado, into
+which billions of gallons of water had been dumped, was rising rapidly,
+an angry, threatening flood.
+
+"Is there any danger of the river overflowing on us?" asked Professor
+Zepplin.
+
+"No.  No single night's rain would do it.  The rain is pretty nearly
+ended now, as you can see for yourself.  But there's no telling how long
+those fellows will continue to roll down.  I've seen the same thing
+before, but this is the worst," declared Dad.
+
+"All on account of the Pony Rider Boys," piped Stacy.  "Miss Nature
+is determined to give us our money's worth in experience.  I've had
+mine already.  She can't quit any too soon to suit me."
+
+After a time the guide crept out, his ears keyed sharply to catch
+warning sounds from above.  Nance had been out but a moment when he
+darted back under the protecting ledge.  He was just in time.  A giant
+boulder struck the earth right in front of their place of refuge.  From
+that moment on no one ventured out.  About an hour before daylight, the
+storm having lulled, the failing boulders coming down with less
+frequency, all hands sank down on their wet blankets one by one, and
+dropped off to sleep.
+
+When they awakened the day had dawned.  The sun was glowing on the peaks
+of Pluto Pyramid and the Algonkin Terraces far above them on the opposite
+side of the gorge.  Tad Butler was the first to open his eyes that
+morning.  He sprang up with a shout.
+
+"Sleepy heads! Turn out!"
+
+Dad was on his feet with a bound.  Then came the Professor, Ned and
+Walter in the order named, with Stacy Brown limping along painfully at
+the rear.
+
+"How do you feel this fine morning?" glowed Tad, nodding at Stacy.
+
+"I?  Oh, I'm all bunged up.  How's the weather?"
+
+"Nature is smiling," answered Tad.
+
+"All right.  As long as she doesn't grin, I won't kick.  If she grins
+I'm blest if I'll stand for it."
+
+"Whose turn is it to get breakfast?" questioned Ned.
+
+"What little there is to get I will attend to," said Tad.  "We are long
+on experience but short on food."
+
+Still, breakfast was a cheerful meal, even though all were still wet,
+their muscles stiffened from sleeping in puddles, from which they were
+obliged to dip the water for their coffee.  They enjoyed the meal just
+as much as if it had been a banquet, however.
+
+Dad's face did not reflect the general joy that was apparent on the
+faces of the others.  Tad observed this, but made no comment.  Finally
+Stacy Brown discovered something of the sort, too.
+
+"Dad, you've got a grouch on this lovely morning," said Stacy.
+
+"No, I never have a grouch."
+
+"Your whiskers are rising.  I thought you had."
+
+"I'd rather have my whiskers standing out some of the time than to have
+my tongue hanging out all of the time," replied the guide witheringly.
+
+"I guess that will be about all for you, Chunky," jeered Ned.
+
+"Do we start as soon as we have finished here?" asked the Professor of
+Nance.
+
+"We do not," was the brief reply.
+
+"May I ask why not?"
+
+"Because we can't start."
+
+"Can't?" wondered Professor Zepplin.
+
+Tad saw that something was wrong.  What that something was he had not
+the remotest idea.
+
+"No, we won't go up Bright Angel Trail to-day."
+
+"Why not?  Why won't we?" piped Stacy.
+
+"Because there isn't any Bright Angel Trail to go up," returned the
+guide grimly.  "The bad place in the trail was all torn out by the
+ripping boulders last night.  Nothing short of a bird could make its
+way over that stretch of trail now."
+
+"Then what are we going to do?" cried the Professor.
+
+"Do?  We're going to stay here.  Escape is for the present wholly cut
+off-----"
+
+"Can't we climb up a trail lower down?" asked Ned.
+
+"Ain't no trail this side of the wall by the river, and the river is
+just as bad as the wall.  I reckon we'll stay here for a time at least."
+
+The Pony Rider Boys looked at each other solemnly.  Theirs was, indeed,
+a serious predicament, much more so than they realized.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+A TRYING TIME
+
+
+For a moment following the announcement no one spoke.
+
+The Professor gazed straight into the stern face of the guide, whose
+whiskers were still drooping.
+
+"We are prisoners here?  Is that it, Nance?" stammered Professor Zepplin.
+
+"That's about it, I reckon.  The trail's busted.  There ain't no other
+way to get out that I know of and I reckon I know these canyons pretty
+well."
+
+"Then what shall we do?"
+
+"Well, I reckon we'll wait till somebody misses us and comes down
+after us."
+
+"Oh, well, they will do that this morning.  Of course they will miss
+us," declared the Professor, as if the matter were entirely settled.
+
+The expression on Dad's face plainly showed that he was not quite so
+confident as was the Professor.  There was one factor that Professor
+Zepplin had not taken into consideration.  Food!  There was barely
+enough left for a meal for one person.  Dad surmised this, so he asked
+Tad just how much food they had left.
+
+"Our supply," said Tad, "consists of three biscuit, one orange and two
+lemons."
+
+The boys groaned.
+
+"I'll take the biscuit.  You can have the rest," was Chunky's liberal
+offer.  "How about it?"
+
+"You will get a lemon handed to you at twelve o'clock noon to-day,"
+jeered Ned Rector.
+
+"Then I'll pass it along to the one who needs it the most," retorted
+Stacy quickly.
+
+"The question is," said the Professor, "is there nothing that we can do
+to attract the attention of others?"
+
+"I have been thinking of that," answered Nance.  "I wish now that we had
+brought our rifles."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"To shoot and attract attention of whoever may be on the rim."
+
+"We might shoot our revolvers," suggested Tad.
+
+"We will do that.  It is doubtful if the reports can be heard above, and
+even then I am doubtful about any of the tenderfeet understanding what
+the shots mean.  About our only hope is that some one who knows will
+come down the trail.  They won't go further than the Gardens, but
+finding our mustangs there a mountaineer would understand."
+
+"Shall I take a shot?" asked Walter.
+
+"Yes."
+
+Walter fired five shots into the river.  After an interval Chunky let
+go five more.  This continued until each had fired a round of five
+shots.  After each round they listened for an answering shot from
+above, but none came.  Thus matters continued until noon, when the
+remaining food was distributed among the party.
+
+"This is worse than nothing," cried Chunky.  "This excites my appetite.
+If you see me frothing at the mouth don't think I've got a dog bite.
+That's my appetite fighting with my stomach.  I'll bet my gun that the
+appetite wins too."
+
+The day wore away slowly.  Tad made frequent trips down the river as
+far as he could get before being stopped by a great wall of rock that
+rose abruptly for nearly a thousand feet above him.  He gazed up this
+glittering expanse of rock until his neck ached, then he went back to
+camp.  An idea was working in Tad's mind, but it was as yet undeveloped.
+
+At intervals the shots were tried again, though no reply followed.  Night
+came on.  Before dark Dad had gathered some driftwood that he found in
+crevices of the rocks.  The wood was almost bone dry and a crackling,
+cheerful fire was soon burning.
+
+"If we only had something to eat now, we'd be all right," said Walter
+mournfully.
+
+"You want something to eat?" questioned Chunky.
+
+"I should say I do."
+
+"Oh, well, that's easily fixed."
+
+Stacy stepped over to a rock, made a motion as if ringing a telephone
+bell, then listened.
+
+"Hello! hello!  Is that the hotel, El Tovar Hotel?  Very well; this
+is Brown.  Brown!  Yes.  Well, we want you to send out dinner for six.
+Six!  Can't you understand plain English?  Yes, six.  Oh, well, I
+think we'll have some porter house steak smothered in onions.  Smothered!
+We'll have some corn cakes and honey, some--some---um---some baked
+potatoes, about four quarts of strawberries.  And by the way, got any
+apple pie?  Yes?  Well, you might send down a half dozen pies and-----"
+
+Chunky got no further.  With a howl, Ned Rector, Tad Butler and Walter
+Perkins made a concerted rush for him.
+
+Ned fell upon the unfortunate fat boy first.  Stacy went down in a heap
+with Ned jamming his head into the dirt that had been washed up by the
+river at flood time.  A moment more and Ned was at the bottom of the
+heap with Stacy, the other two boys having piled on top.
+
+"Here, here!" shouted the Professor.
+
+"Let 'em scrap," grinned Dad.  "They'll forget they're hungry."
+
+They did.  After the heap had been unpiled, the boys got up, their
+clothes considerably the worse for the conflict, their faces red, but
+smiling and their spirits considerably higher.
+
+"You'll get worse than that if you tantalize us in that way again,"
+warned Tad.  "We can stand for your harmless jokes, but this is
+cruel-----"
+
+"---ty to animals," finished Chunky.
+
+"What you'll get will make you sure of that."
+
+"Come over here and get warm, Brown," called the guide.
+
+"Oh, he's warmed sufficiently," laughed Tad.  "We have attended to that.
+He won't get chills to-night, I promise you."
+
+Breathing hard, their eyes glowing, the boys squatted down around the
+camp fire.  No sooner had they done so than a thrilling roar sounded
+off somewhere in a canyon to their right, the roar echoing from rock
+to rock, from canyon to canyon, dying away in the far distance.
+
+"For goodness' sake, what is that?" gasped Stacy.
+
+"Mountain lion," answered the guide shortly.
+
+"Can---can he get here?" stammered Walter.
+
+"He can if he wants to."
+
+"I---I hope he changes his mind if he does want to," breathed Stacy.
+
+"I wish we had our rifles," muttered Ned.
+
+"What for?" demanded Dad.
+
+"To shoot lions, of course."
+
+"Humph!"
+
+"Couldn't we have a lion hunt while we are out here?" asked Tad
+enthusiastically.
+
+"You could if the lion didn't hunt you."
+
+"Wouldn't that be great, fellows?" cried Tad.  "The Pony Rider Boys as
+lion hunters."
+
+"Great," chorused the boys.  "When shall it be?" added Ned.
+
+"It won't be till after we get out of this hole," declared Dad.  "And
+from present indications, that won't be to-night."
+
+"Tell us something about the lions," urged Walter.  "Are they ugly?"
+
+"Well, they ain't exactly household pets," answered the guide, with
+a faint smile.
+
+"Is it permitted to hunt them?" interjected the Professor.
+
+"Yes, there's no law against it.  The lions kill the deer and the
+government is glad to be rid of the lions.  But you won't get enough
+of them to cause a flurry in the lion market."
+
+"No, there's more probability of there being a panic in the Pony Rider
+market," chuckled Tad.
+
+"I'm not afraid," cried Stacy.
+
+"No, Chunky isn't afraid," jeered Ned.  "He doesn't want to go home
+when the marbles roll down from the mountain!  Oh, no, he isn't afraid!
+He's just looking for dangerous sport."
+
+Their repartee was interrupted by another roar, louder than the first.
+But though they listened for a long time there was no repetition of the
+disturbing roar of the king of the canyons.
+
+Soon after that the lads went to bed.  Tonight they slept soundly, for
+they had had little sleep the previous night, as the reader knows.
+When they awakened on the following morning the conditions had not
+changed.  They were still prisoners in the Grand Canyon not far from
+the foot of Bright Angel Trail.  All hands awoke to the consciousness
+that unless something were done, and at once, they would find themselves
+face to face with starvation.  It was not a cheerful prospect.
+
+There was no breakfast that morning, though Chunky, who had picked
+up a cast-away piece of orange peel, was munching it with great
+satisfaction, rolling his eyes from one to the other of his companions.
+
+"Don't.  You might excite your appetite again," warned Ned.
+
+Tad, who had been out for another exploring tour along the river, had
+returned, walking briskly.
+
+"Well, did you find a trail?" demanded Chunky.
+
+"No, but I have found a way out of this hole," answered Tad, with
+emphasis.
+
+"What?" exclaimed Dad, whirling on him almost savagely.
+
+"Yes, I have found a way.  I'm going to carry out a plan and I promise
+that with good luck I'll get you all out of here safely.  I shall need
+some help, but the thing can be done, I know."
+
+"What is your plan?" asked the Professor.
+
+"I'll tell you," said Tad.  "But don't interrupt me, please, until I
+have finished."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+BRAVING THE ROARING COLORADO
+
+
+The Pony Riders drew closer, Dad leaned against the rocky wall of the
+Canyon, while the Professor peered anxiously into the lad's face.
+
+"I'll bet it's a crazy plan," muttered Stacy.
+
+"We will hear what you have to say and decide upon its feasibility
+afterwards," announced the Professor.
+
+"Mr. Nance, if a man were below the horseshoe down the Canyon there, he
+would be able to make his way over to the Bright Angel Trail, would
+he not?"
+
+"Yes.  A fellow who knew how to climb among the rocks could make it."
+
+"He could get right over on our own trail, could he not?"
+
+"Sure! But what good would that do us?"
+
+"Couldn't he let down ropes and get us out?"
+
+"I reckon he could at that."
+
+"You don't think we are going to be discovered here until perhaps it is
+too late, do you, Mr. Nance?"
+
+"We always have hopes.  There being nothing we can do, the only thing
+for us is to sit down and hope."
+
+"And starve?  No, thank you.  Not for mine!"
+
+"Nor mine.  It's time we men did something," declared Stacy pompously.
+
+"As I have had occasion to remark before, children should be seen and
+not heard," asserted Ned Rector.
+
+"Kindly be quiet.  We are listening to Master Tad," rebuked the
+Professor.  "Go ahead, Tad."
+
+"There isn't much to say, except that I propose to get on the other
+side of the horseshoe and climb back over the rocks to our trail.  If I
+am fortunate enough to get there the rest will be easy and I'll have
+you up in a short time.  How about it, Dad?" asked the boy lightly,
+as if his proposal were nothing out of the ordinary.
+
+Dad took a few steps forward.
+
+"How do ye propose to get across that stretch of water there to reach
+the other side of the horseshoe?"
+
+"Swim it, of course."
+
+The guide laughed harshly.
+
+"Swim it?  Why, kid a boat wouldn't live in that boiling pot for two
+minutes.  What could a mere man hope to do against that demon?"
+
+"It is my opinion that a man would do better for a few moments against
+the water than a boat would.  I think I can do it."
+
+"No, if anybody does that kind of a trick it will be Jim Nance."
+
+"Do you swim?"
+
+"Like a chunk of marble.  Living on the plains all a fellow's life
+doesn't usually make a swimmer of him."
+
+"I thought so.  That makes me all the more determined to do this thing."
+
+"Somebody hold me or I'll be doing it myself," cried Chunky.
+
+No one paid any attention to the fat boy's remark.
+
+"I can't permit it, Tad," said the Professor, with an emphatic shake of
+the head.  "No, you could never make it.  It would be suicide."
+
+"I'm going to try it," insisted the Pony Rider.
+
+"You most certainly are not."
+
+"But there is little danger.  Don't you see I should be floating down
+with the current.  Almost before I knew it I should be on the other
+side of the horseshoe there.  Besides you would have hold of the rope."
+
+"Rope?" demanded Dad.
+
+"Yes, of course."
+
+"Where are you going to get ropes?  They're all up there on the
+mountainside."
+
+"We still have our lassoes."
+
+"Explain.  I don't understand," urged Professor Zepplin.
+
+"It is my plan to tie the lassoes together.  We have six of them.  That
+will make nearly two hundred feet.  One or two of you can take hold of
+the free end of the rope, the other end being about my waist.  In case
+I should be carried away from the shore, why all you have to do will
+be to haul me back.  Isn't that a simple proposition?"
+
+"It's a crazy one," nodded the Professor.
+
+"Come to think it over, I believe it could be done," reflected Nance.
+"If I could swim at all I'd do it myself, but I'd drown inside of
+thirty seconds after I stepped a foot in the water.  Why, I nearly
+drown every time I wash for breakfast."
+
+Stacy was about to make a remark, but checked himself.  It was evidently
+not a seemly remark.  It must have been more than ordinarily flippant
+to have caused Chunky to restrain himself.
+
+"I move we let Tad try it, Professor," proposed Ned.
+
+"I don't approve of it at all.  No, sir, I most emphatically do not."
+
+"But surely, Professor, there can be no danger in it at all.  It is
+very simple," urged young Butler.
+
+Tad knew better.  It was not a simple thing to do.  It was distinctly a
+perilous, if not a foolhardy feat.  Nance knew this, too, but he had
+grown to feel a great confidence in Tad Butler.  He believed that if
+anyone could brave those swirling waters and come out alive, that one
+was Tad Butler.  But it was a desperate chance.  Still, with the rope
+tied around the lad's waist, it was as the boy had said, they could
+haul him back quickly.
+
+"Professor, I am in favor of letting him try it if he is a good
+swimmer," announced the guide.
+
+"Pshaw, you couldn't drown Tad," declared Ned.
+
+"No, you couldn't drown Tad," echoed Chunky.  "Not any more than you
+could drown me."
+
+"Perhaps you would like to try it yourself?" grinned Nance.
+
+"Yes, I can hardly hold myself.  I am afraid every minute that I'll jump
+right into that raging flood there and strike out for the other side of
+the horseshoe," returned Stacy, striking a diving attitude.
+
+They laughed, but as quickly sobered.  Tad was already at work making
+firm splices in the two ropes that he held in his hand.
+
+"Pass over your ropes, boys.  We have no time to lose.  The river is
+getting higher every minute now, and there's no telling what condition
+it will be in an hour from now."
+
+The others passed over their ropes, some willingly enough, others with
+reluctance.  Tad spliced them together, tested each knot with all his
+strength and nodded his approval.
+
+"I guess they will hold now," he said, stripping off his coat after
+having thrown his hat aside and tossed off his cartridge belt and
+revolver.
+
+"Walt, you take care of those things for me, please, and in case I get
+you folks out, fetch them up with you."
+
+Walter Perkins nodded as he picked up the belongings of his chum.
+
+"Mr. Nance," said Tad, "I think you and Ned are the strongest, so I'll
+ask you two to take hold of the rope when I get started.  If you need
+help the Professor will lend a hand."
+
+Professor Zepplin shook his head.  He did not approve of this at all.
+However, it seemed their only hope.  Tad started for the lower end of
+the walled-in enclosure, the others following him.  The lad made the
+rope fast around his waist, twisting it about so that the knot was on
+the small of his back.  Thus the rope would not interfere with his
+swimming.  He then uncoiled the rope, stretching it along the ground to
+make sure that there were no kinks in it.
+
+"There, everything appears to be in working order.  Don't you envy me
+my fine swim, boys?" Tad laughed cheerfully.
+
+"Yes, we do," chorused the boys.
+
+It must not be thought that Tad Butler did not fully realize the peril
+into which he was so willingly going.  He knew there was a big chance
+against his ever making his goal, but he was willing to take the slender
+remaining chance that he might make it.
+
+"All ready," he said coolly.
+
+Dad and Ned took hold of the rope.
+
+"Don't hold on to it at all unless I shout to you to do so.  I must be
+left free.  Let me be the judge if I am to be hauled back or not."
+
+With a final glance behind, to see that all was in readiness, Tad
+stepped to the edge of the water.  Chunky pressed up close to him.
+
+"Is there any last request that you want me to make to relatives or
+friends, Tad?" asked the fat boy solemnly.
+
+"Tell them to be good to my Chunky, for he's such a tender plant that
+he will perish unless he has the most loving care.  Here I go!"
+
+With a wave of his hand, Tad plunged into the swirling waters.  Though
+his plunge was seen, the sound of it was borne down by the thunderous
+roar of the river.  As Butler vanished it was as though he had gone to
+his instant doom.
+
+Instinctively the two men holding the rope tightened their grip,
+beginning to haul in.  But Tad's head showed and they eased off again.
+
+Just a few moments more, and Tad was seized by the waters and hurled up
+into the air.
+
+"He jumps like a bass," chuckled Chunky.
+
+"Quit that talk!" ordered Ned sharply.  "Poor Tad, we've let him go to
+a hopeless death!"
+
+All watched Tad breathlessly---whenever they could see him.  More often
+the boy was invisible to those on land.
+
+A strong swimmer, and an intelligent one, Tad had more than found his
+match in these angry, cruel waters.  Though the current was in the
+direction that he wanted to go, the eddies seemed bent on dragging him
+out to the middle of the stream, where he must be most helpless of all.
+
+Tad was fighting with all the strength that remained to him when an
+up-wave met him, caught him and hurled him back fully ten feet.  Butler
+now found his feet entangled in the rope.
+
+"He's having a fearful battle!" gasped Walter, whose face had gone
+deathly pale.
+
+Professor Zepplin nodded, unable to speak.  By a triumph of strength,
+backed by his cool head and keen judgment, Tad brought himself out of
+this dangerous pocket of water, only to meet others.  His strength
+seemed to be failing now.
+
+"Haul him back!" ordered the Professor hoarsely.  "Haul him back!"
+
+They tried, but at that moment the rope parted---sawed in two over a
+sharp edge of rock!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+A BATTLE MIGHTILY WAGED
+
+
+The land end of the rope fell limp in the hands of Jim Nance and Ned
+Rector.
+
+"It's gone---gone!" wailed Ned.
+
+"That settles him," answered the guide in a hopeless tone.
+
+"Oh, he's lost, he's lost!" cried Walter.  "Can no one do anything?"
+
+Chunky, with sudden determination, threw off his coat, and started on a
+run for the river.  Dodging the Professor's outstretched hands, Chunky
+sprang into the water.
+
+With a roar Dad hurled the rope toward the fat boy.  The guide had no
+time in which to fashion a loop, but he had thrown the rope doubled.
+Fortunately the coil caught Chunky's right foot and the lad was hauled
+back feet first, choking, half drowned, his head being dragged under
+water despite his struggles to get free.
+
+The instant they hauled him to the bank the Professor seized the lad
+and began shaking him.
+
+"Leggo! Lemme go, I tell you.  I'm going after Tad!"
+
+Stacy Brown was terribly in earnest this time.  He was fighting mad
+because they had pulled him back from what would have been sure death
+to him.  They had never given Stacy credit for such pluck, and Ned and
+Walter gazed at him with new interest in their eyes.  It was necessary
+to hold the fat boy.  He was still struggling, determined to go to
+Tad's rescue.
+
+In the meantime their attention had been drawn from Tad for the moment.
+When they looked again they failed to find him.
+
+"There he is," shouted Ned, as the boy was seen to rise from the water
+and plunge head foremost into it again.  Tad did not appear to be
+fighting now.
+
+"He's helpless!  He's hurt!" cried the Professor.
+
+"I reckon that's about the end of the lad," answered Nance in a low
+tone.  "There's nothing we can do but to wait."
+
+"I see him again!" shouted Walter.
+
+They could see the lad being tumbled this way and that, hurled first
+away from the shore, then on toward it.  Nance was regarding the
+buffeted Pony Rider keenly.  He saw that Tad was really nearing the
+shore, but that he was helpless.
+
+"What has happened to him?" demanded the Professor hoarsely.  "Is he
+drowned?"
+
+"It's my opinion that he has been banged against a rock and knocked
+out.  I can't tell what'll be the end of it, but it looks mighty bad.
+There he goes, high and dry!" fairly screamed Dad, while his whiskers
+tilted upwards at a sharp angle.
+
+Tad had been hurled clear of the water, hurled to the dry rocks on which
+he had been flung as if the river wanted no more of him.  The watchers
+began to shout.  They danced about almost beside themselves with anxiety.
+No one could go to Tad's assistance, if, indeed, he were not beyond
+assistance.
+
+A full twenty minutes of this nerve-racking anxiety had passed when Dad
+thought he saw a movement of Tad's form.  A few moments later the boy
+was seen to struggle to a sitting posture, where he sat for a short
+time, both hands supporting his head.
+
+Such a yell as the Pony Rider Boys uttered might have been heard clear
+up on the rim of the Grand Canyon had there been any one there to hear
+it.  Dad danced a wild hornpipe, the Professor strode up and down,
+first thrusting his hands into his pockets, then withdrawing and waving
+them above his head.  Stacy had settled down on the rocks with the
+tears streaming down his cheeks.  Stacy wasn't joking now.  This
+emotion was real.
+
+They began to shout out Tad's name.  It was plain that he heard them,
+for he waved a listless hand then returned to his former position.
+
+"That boy is all iron," breathed the admiring guide.
+
+The noise of the river was so great that they could not ask him if he
+were hurt seriously.  But Tad answered the question himself a few
+minutes later by getting up.  He stood for a moment swaying as if he
+would fall over again, then staggered to the wall, against which he
+leaned, still holding his head.
+
+"He must have got an awful wallop," declared Dad.
+
+Shortly after that Tad appeared to have recovered somewhat, for he was
+seen to be gazing up over the rocks, apparently trying to choose a
+route for himself.
+
+"How can he ever make that dizzy climb in his condition?" groaned the
+Professor.
+
+"We'll see.  I think he can do anything," returned Nance.
+
+Tad walked back and forth a few times, exercising his muscles, then
+turned toward the rocks which he began to climb.  He proceeded slowly
+and with great caution, evidently realizing the peril of his undertaking,
+but taking no greater chances than he was obliged to do.
+
+Little by little he worked his way upward, Now and then halting, clinging
+to the rocks for support while he rested.  After a time he looked down
+at his companions.  Nance waved a hand, signaling Tad to turn to the
+right.  Tad saw and understood the signal and acted accordingly.
+
+Once he stood up and gazed off over the rugged peaks, sharp knife-like
+edges and sheer wails before him.  There seemed not sufficient foothold
+for a bird where he was standing, and though a thousand feet above the
+river, he seemed not to feel the height at all nor to be in the least
+dizzy.
+
+It was dangerous work, exhausting work; but oh! what self-reliance, what
+pluck and levelheadedness was Tad Butler displaying.  Had he never
+accomplished anything worth while in his life, those who saw him now
+could but admire the lad's wonderful courage.
+
+They hung upon his movements, scarcely breathing at all, as little by
+little the lad crept along, now swinging by his hands from one ledge
+to another, now creeping around a sharp bend on hand and knees, now
+hanging with nothing more secure than thin air underneath him, with face
+flattened against a rock, resting.  It was a sight to thrill and to
+make even strong men shiver.
+
+For a long time Tad disappeared from view.  The watchers did not know
+where he had gone, but Nance explained that he had crept around the
+opposite side of the butte where he had last been seen, hoping to
+discover better going there, which Jim was of the opinion he would find.
+
+This proved to be the case when after what seemed an interminable time,
+the Pony Rider once more appeared, creeping steadily on toward the
+trail above the broken spot.
+
+This went on for the greater part of two hours.
+
+"He's safe.  Thank God!" cried the guide.
+
+The Pony Rider Boys whooped.
+
+"You stay here!" directed the guide.  Nance began clambering up the
+rocky trail to a point from which he would be able to talk to the boy.
+Arriving at this spot, Dad waited.  At last Tad appeared, dragging
+himself along.
+
+"Good boy! Fine boy!  Dad's Canyon is proud of you, boy!"
+
+Tad sank down, shaking his head, breathing hard, as the guide could
+see, even at that distance.  After a time Tad recovered his wind
+sufficiently to be able to talk.
+
+"What happened to you?" called Dad.
+
+"I got a bump.  I don't really know what did occur.  The ropes are all
+washed away, Dad.  I don't know how I'm going to help you up here now
+that I have got up.  Aren't there any vines of which I could make a
+ladder?"
+
+"Nary a vine that'll make a seventy-five-foot ladder."
+
+"Then there is only one thing for me to do."
+
+"What's that?"
+
+"Hurry to the rim and get ropes."
+
+"I reckon you'll have to do that, kid, if you think you're able.  Are
+you much knocked out?"
+
+"I'm all right.  Tell them not to worry.  I may be gone some time, but
+I shall be back."
+
+"Good luck! I wish I could help you."
+
+"I don't need help now.  There is no further danger.  Are my friends
+down there hungry?"
+
+"Stacy Brown is thinking of nibbling rocks."
+
+Tad laughed, then began climbing up the trail.  Nance, watching him
+narrowly, saw that the boy was very weary, being scarcely able to drag
+himself along.  After a time Tad passed out of sight up what was left
+of Bright Angel Trail.  Nance, with a sigh, turned to begin retracing
+his steps down to the Pony Rider Boys' party.
+
+"Well, he made it, didn't he?" cried Ned.  "We have been watching him
+all the time."
+
+"There's a real man," answered the guide, with an emphatic nod.  "Pity
+there aren't more like him."
+
+"There is one like him," spoke up Chunky.
+
+"Who?"
+
+"Little me," answered the fat boy, tapping his chest modestly.
+
+"That's so; Chunky did jump into the raging flood," said Walter.  "We
+mustn't forget that he acted the part of a brave man while we were
+standing there shivering and almost gasping for breath."
+
+"Brave?" drawled Ned sarcastically.
+
+"Ned Rector, you know you were scared stiff," retorted Walter.
+
+"Well, I'll be honest with you, I was.  Who wouldn't have been?  Even
+the Professor's mustache changed color for the moment."
+
+The afternoon passed.  It was now growing dark, for the night came on
+early down there in the Canyon.  On the tops of the peaks the lowering
+sun was lighting up the red sandstone, making it appear like a great
+flame on the polished walls.
+
+"Isn't it time Tad were getting back?" asked the Professor anxiously.
+
+"Well, it's a long, hard climb, you know.  All of seven miles the way
+one has to go.  That makes fourteen miles up and back, and they're real
+miles, as you know."
+
+"I hope nothing has happened to the boy."
+
+"Leave it to him.  He knows how to take care of himself."
+
+No one thought of lying down to sleep.  In the first place, all were
+too hungry.  Then, again, at any moment Tad might return.  Midnight
+arrived.  Suddenly Nance held up his hands for silence.
+
+"Whoo-oo!"
+
+It was a long-drawn, far-away call.
+
+"That's Tad," said Nance.  "We'd better gather up our belongings and
+get up to the break in the trail."
+
+The guide answered the call by a similar "whoo-oo," after which all
+began climbing cautiously.  In the darkness it was dangerous business,
+but a torch held in the hands of Jim Nance aided them materially.  Far
+up on the side of the Canyon they could see three flickering points of
+light.
+
+"It's the kid.  He's got somebody with him.  I thought he'd do that.
+He's a wise one," chuckled the guide.
+
+The climb was made in safety.  The party ar rived at the base at last,
+the boys shouting joyously as they saw Tad waving a torch at them.  At
+least they supposed it was Tad.
+
+"What do you think about waiting until daylight for the climb?" shouted
+Butler.
+
+"I'll see what they say," answered Nance.  "What about it, gentlemen?"
+
+"I think it perhaps would be safer." This from the Professor.
+
+"What, spend another night in this hole?" demanded Stacy.  "No, sirree."
+
+"Please let us go on up, Professor," begged Walter.
+
+"Yes, we don't want to stay down here.  We can climb at night as well
+as in daylight," urged Chunky.
+
+"What have you got, ropes?" called Nance.
+
+"I've brought down some rope ladders, which I have spliced-----"
+
+"I hope you've done a better job on the splicing than you did on your
+own rope when you sailed across the horseshoe bend," shouted Stacy.
+"If you haven't, I refuse to trust my precious life to your old rope."
+
+"Too bad about your precious life," laughed Ned.  "Well, Professor,
+what do you say?"
+
+"Is it safe, Nance?"
+
+"As safe now as at any other time."
+
+"All right."
+
+"Let down your ladder," called the guide.  "Be sure that it is well
+secured.  How many have you with you?"
+
+"Three men, if that is what you mean."
+
+"Very good."
+
+The rope ladder was let down.  Those below were just able to reach it
+with their hands.  It came within less than a foot of being too short.
+
+"Who is going up first?" asked the guide.
+
+"The Professor, of course," replied Chunky magnanimously.
+
+"That is very thoughtful of you, Stacy," smiled Professor Zepplin.
+
+"Yes, you are the heaviest.  If the rope doesn't break with you, it's
+safe for the rest of us," answered Chunky, whereat there was a general
+laugh.
+
+"Very good, young man.  I will accommodate you," announced the Professor
+grimly, grasping the rope and pulling himself up with the assistance of
+Nance and the boys.
+
+The rope swayed dizzily.
+
+"Hold it there!" shouted the Professor.
+
+Nance had already grasped the end of the ladder and was holding to it
+with his full weight.  After a long time a shout from above told them
+that Professor Zepplin had arrived safely at the top.  Walter went up
+next, then Chunky and Ned, followed finally by Jim Nance himself after
+their belongings had been hauled to the top.
+
+Professor Zepplin embraced Tad immediately upon reaching the trail
+above.  The boys joked Butler about being such a poor swimmer.  About
+that time they discovered that Tad had a gash nearly four inches long
+on his head where he had come in contact with the sharp edge of a rock
+in the river.  Tad had lost much blood and was still weak and pale from
+his terrific experiences.  Nance wrung Tad Butler's hand until Tad
+winced.
+
+"Ain't a man in the whole Grand who could have done what you did,
+youngster," declared Dad enthusiastically.
+
+"The question is, did you fetch down anything to eat?" demanded Chunky.
+
+"Yes, of course I did."
+
+"Where is it?  Lead me to it," shouted the fat boy.
+
+"I left the stuff up at the Garden, where the mustangs are.  We will go
+up there, the Professor and Mr. Nance approving."
+
+The Professor and Mr. Nance most certainly did approve of the suggestion,
+for both were very hungry.  The men who had come down with Tad led the
+way with their torches.  It was a long, hard climb, the use of the ropes
+being found necessary here and there for convenience and to save time.
+Tad had had none of these conveniences when he went up.  How he had
+made the trip so easily as he appeared to make it set the boys to
+wondering.
+
+Baskets of food were found at the Garden.  The party did full justice
+to the edibles, then, acting on the suggestion of Nance, they rolled
+up in their blankets and went to sleep.  First, however, Professor
+Zepplin had examined the wound in Tad's head.  He found it a scalp
+wound.  The Professor washed and dressed the wound, after which Tad
+went to bed.
+
+On the following morning they mounted their mustangs and started slowly
+for the rim, where they arrived some time after noon.  The Pony Rider
+Boys instantly went into camp near the hotel, for it had been decided
+to take a full day's rest before starting out on the long trip.  This
+time they were to take their pack train with them and cut off from
+civilization for the coming few weeks, they would live in the Canyon,
+foraging for what food they were unable to carry with them.
+
+The guests at the hotel, after hearing of Tad Butler's bravery, tried
+to make a hero of the lad, but Tad would have none of it.  He grew red
+in the face every time anyone suggested that he had done anything out
+of the ordinary.  And deep down in his heart the lad did not believe
+that he had.  Professor Zepplin, however, called a surgeon, who took
+five stitches in the scalp wound.
+
+On the following morning camp was struck and the party started out for
+Bright Angel Gulch and Cataract Canyon, in both of which places some
+interesting as well as exciting experiences awaited them.  Nance had
+brought three of his hunting dogs with him in case any game were started.
+
+The boys were looking forward to shooting a lion, though, there being
+no snow on the ground, it would be difficult for the dogs to strike
+and follow a trail.  How well they succeeded we shall see.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE DOGS PICK UP A TRAIL
+
+
+The man in charge of the pack train having deserted them before the
+travelers got back from the rim, Dad picked up a half breed whom the
+boys named Chow, because he was always chewing.  If not food, Chow was
+forever munching on a leaf or a twig or a stick.  His jaws were ever
+at work until the boys were working their own jaws out of pure sympathy.
+
+The march was taken up to Bass Trail, which they reached about noon of
+the second day and started down.  No unusual incident occurred during
+this journey.  They found the trail in good condition, and though steep
+and precipitous in places, it gave the Pony Rider Boys no worry.  After
+having experienced the perils of the other trail, this one seemed tame.
+
+From Bass Trail they worked their way down and across into Bright Angel
+Gulch, where they made camp and awaited the arrival of Chow and the
+mules with their tents and provisions.
+
+Chow arrived late the same day.  Tents were pitched and settled.  It was
+decided for the present to make this point their base of supplies.  When
+on short journeys they would travel light, carrying such equipment as
+was absolutely necessary, and no more.
+
+This gulch was far from the beaten track of the ordinary explorer, a
+vast but attractive gash in the plateau.  In spots there was verdure,
+and, where the water courses reached in, stretches of grass with here
+and there patches of gramma grass, grease wood and creosote plants with
+a profusion of flowers, mostly red, in harmony with the prevailing
+color of the rocks that towered high above them.  At this point the
+walls of the Canyon reached nearly seven thousand feet up into the air.
+
+Down there on the levels the sun glared fiercely at midday, but along
+toward night refreshing breezes drifted through the Canyon, making the
+evenings cool and delightful.  But there were drawbacks.  There were
+snakes and insects in this almost tropical lower land.  The boys were
+not greatly disturbed over these things.  By this time they were pretty
+familiar with insects and reptiles, for it will be remembered that they
+had spent much time in the wilder places of their native country.
+
+For the first twenty-four hours of their stay in "Camp Butler," as they
+had named their base in honor of Tad himself, they did little more than
+make short excursions out into the adjoining canyons.  The Professor
+embraced the opportunity to indulge in some scientific researches into
+the geology of the Canyon, on which in the evening he was wont to dwell
+at length in language that none of the boys understood.  But they
+listened patiently, for they were very fond of this grizzled old
+traveler who had now been their companion for so long.
+
+The third night the dogs appeared restless.  They lay at the end of
+their leashes growling and whipping their tails angrily.
+
+"What is the matter with the dogs?" demanded Tad Butler.
+
+"I think they must have fleas," decided Chunky wisely.
+
+"No, it isn't fleas," said Dad, who had been observing them for the
+past few minutes.  "It's my opinion that there's game hereabouts."
+
+"Deer?" questioned Ned.
+
+"No.  More likely it's something that is after the deer."
+
+"Lions?" asked Tad.
+
+"I reckon."
+
+"Have you seen any signs of them?"
+
+"What you might call a sign," Nance nodded.  "I found, up in Mystic
+Canyon this afternoon, all that was left of a deer.  The lions had
+killed it and stripped all the best flesh from the deer.  So it's plain
+enough that the cats are hanging around.  I thought we'd come up with
+some of them down here."
+
+"Wow for the king of beasts!" shouted Chunky, throwing up his sombrero.
+
+"Nothing like a king," retorted Jim Nance.  "The mountain lion isn't
+in any class with African lions.  The lion hereabouts is only a part
+as big.  A king---this mountain lion of ours?  You'd better call the
+beast a dirty savage, and be satisfied with that."
+
+"But we're going to go after some of them, aren't we?" asked Ned.
+
+"Surely," nodded Nance.
+
+"When?" pressed Walter.
+
+"Is it safe?" the more prudent Professor Zepplin wanted to know.
+
+"Safe?" repeated Jim Nance.  "Well, when it comes to that, nothing down
+in this country can be called exactly safe.  All sorts of trouble can
+be had around here for the asking.  But I reckon that these young
+gentlemen will know pretty well how to keep themselves reasonably
+safe---all except Mr. Brown, who'll bear some watching."
+
+Even long after they had turned in that night the boys kept on talking
+about the coming hunts of the next few days.  They fairly dreamed lions.
+In the morning the hunt was the first thing they thought of as they ran
+to wash up for breakfast.  In the near distance could be heard the
+baying of hounds, for Dad's dogs were no longer chained up.
+
+"I let the dogs loose," Nance explained, noting the eager, questioning
+glances.  "The dogs have got track of something.  Hustle your breakfasts!
+We'll get away with speed."
+
+Breakfast was disposed of in a hurry that morning.  Then the boys
+hustled to get ready for the day's sport.  When, a few minutes later,
+they set off on their ponies, with rifles thrust in saddle boots,
+revolvers bristling from their belts, ropes looped over the pommels of
+their saddles, the Pony Rider Boys presented quite a warlike appearance.
+
+"If you were half as fierce as you look I'd run," declared Dad, with
+a grin.
+
+"Which way do we go?" questioned the Professor.
+
+"We'll all hike up into the Mystic Canyon.  There we'll spread out, each
+man for himself.  One of us can't help but fall to the trail of a beast
+if he is careful."
+
+After reaching the Mystic they heard the dogs in a canyon some distance
+away.  Ned and Walter were sent off to the left, Tad to the north, while
+the rest remained in the Mystic Canyon to wait there, where the chase
+should lead at some time during the day.
+
+"Three shots are a signal to come in, or to come to the fellow who
+shoots," announced the guide.  "Look out for yourselves."
+
+Silence soon settled down over Mystic Canyon.  Chunky was disappointed
+that he had not been assigned to go out with one of his companions, he
+found time hanging heavily on his hands with Nance and the Professor,
+but he uttered no complaint.
+
+The Professor and guide had dismounted from their ponies and were seated
+on a rock busily engaged in conversation.  Chunky, after glancing at
+them narrowly, shouldered his rifle and strolled off, leaving his pony
+tethered to a sapling.
+
+He walked further than he had intended, making his way to a rise of
+ground about a quarter of a mile away, with the hope that he might
+catch a glimpse of some of his companions.  Once on the rise, which was
+quite heavily wooded, he seemed to hear the hounds much more plainly
+than before.  It seemed to Stacy that they were approaching from the
+other side, opposite to that which the rest were watching.  He glanced
+down into the canyon, but could see neither of the two older men.
+
+"Most exciting chase I've ever been in," muttered the fat boy in disgust,
+throwing himself down on the ground with rifle across his knees.
+"Lions!  I don't believe there are any lions in the whole country.
+Dad's been having dreams.  It's my private opinion that Dad's got an
+imagination that works over time once in a while.  I think-----"
+
+The words died on the fat boy's lips.  His eyes grew wide, the pupils
+narrowed, the whites giving the appearance of small inverted saucers.
+
+Stacy scarcely breathed.
+
+There, slinking across an open space on the rise, its tail swishing its
+ears laid flat on its cruel, cat-like head, was a tawny, lithe creature.
+
+Stacy Brown recognized the object at once.  It was a mountain lion, a
+large one.  It seemed to Chunky that he never had seen a beast as large
+in all his life.  The lion was alternately listening to the baying of
+the hounds and peering about for a suitable tree in which to hide itself.
+
+Stacy acted like a man in a trance.  Without any clear idea as to what
+he was doing, he rose slowly to his feet.  At that instant the lion
+discovered him.  It crouched down, its eyes like sparks of fire,
+scintillating and snapping.
+
+All at once Stacy threw his gun to his shoulder and pulled the trigger.
+At least he thought he did.  But no report came.
+
+A yellow flash, a swish and the beast had leaped clear of the rise and
+disappeared even more suddenly than he had come.
+
+"Wha---wha-----" gasped Chunky.  Then he made a discovery.
+
+Chunky was holding the rifle by the barrel with the muzzle against his
+shoulder, having aimed the butt at the crouching lion.  Chunky had had
+a severe attack of "buck fever."
+
+With a wild yell that woke the echoes and sent Jim Nance and Professor
+Zepplin tearing through the bushes, Stacy dashed down the steep slope,
+forgetting to take his rifle with him in his hurried descent.
+
+He met the two men running toward him.
+
+"What is it?  What's happened?" shouted the Professor.
+
+"I saw him!  I saw him!" yelled Stacy, almost frantic with excitement.
+
+Nance grabbed the boy by the shoulder, shaking him roughly.
+
+"Speak up.  What did you see?"
+
+"I su---su---saw a lu---lu---lion, I di---did."
+
+"Where?" demanded Nance.
+
+"Up there."
+
+Chunky's eyes were full of excitement.
+
+"Why didn't you shoot him?"
+
+"I---I tried to, but the gu---gun wouldn't go off.  I---I had it wrong
+end to."
+
+Dad relaxed his grip on the fat boy's arm and sat down heavily.
+
+"Of all the tarnal idiots---of all!  Professor, if we don't tie that boy
+to a tree he'll be killing us all with his fool ways.  Why, you baby,
+you ain't fit to carry a pop-gun.  By the way, where is your gun?"
+
+"I---I guess, I lost it up---up there," stammered Stacy.
+
+Dad started for the top of the rise in long strides, Chunky gazing after
+him in a dazed sort of way.
+
+"I---I guess I did make a fool of myself, didn't I, Professor?" he
+mourned.
+
+"I am inclined to think you did---several different varieties of them,"
+answered Professor Zepplin in a tone of disgust.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+THE MYSTERY OF THE RIFLE
+
+
+"I can't help it, I saw a lion, anyway," muttered the fat boy.
+
+"Come up here!" It was Dad's voice calling to them.  "Where's that
+rifle?"
+
+"I---I dropped it, I told you."
+
+"Where did you drop it?"
+
+"Right there."
+
+"Show me."
+
+Stacy climbed to the top of the rise and stepped confidently over to
+where he had let go the rifle before rushing down after having tried
+to shoot the lion.  He actually stooped over to pick up the gun, so
+confident was he as to its location.  Then a puzzled expression appeared
+on Stacy's face.
+
+"Oh, it's there, is it?"
+
+"Why---I---I------- Say, you're trying to play a joke on me."
+
+"I rather think you've played it on yourself," jeered the guide.  "Where
+did you leave it?"
+
+"Right there, I tell you."
+
+"Sure you didn't throw it over in the bushes down the other side?"
+
+"I guess I know what I did with it," retorted Chunky indignantly.
+
+"Well, it isn't here." Dad was somewhat puzzled by this time.  He saw
+that Stacy was very confident of having left the gun at that particular
+place, but it could not be found.
+
+"Maybe somebody's stolen it," suggested the boy.
+
+"Nonsense!  Who is there here to steal it, in the first place?  In the
+second, how could any one slip in here at the right moment and get
+away with your rifle?"
+
+"You have no---no idea what has become of it---no theory?" asked the
+Professor.
+
+"Not the least little bit," replied the guide.
+
+"Most remarkable---most remarkable," muttered Professor Zepplin.  "I
+cannot understand it."
+
+"We'll look around a bit," announced Dad.
+
+The three men searched everywhere, even going all the way down to the
+base of the rise on either side, but nowhere did they find the slightest
+trace of the missing rifle.  After they had returned to the summit, Dad,
+a new idea in mind, went over the rocks and the ground again in search
+of footprints.  The only footprints observable were those of their own
+party.  There was more in the mystery than Dad could fathom.
+
+"Well, this gets me," declared the guide, wiping the perspiration from
+his forehead.  "This certainly does."
+
+"Is---is my rifle lost?" wailed Chunky.
+
+"I reckon you'll never see that pretty bit of firearms again," grinned
+Jim.
+
+"But it must be here," insisted Stacy.
+
+"But it isn't.  Fortunately we have plenty of guns with us.  You can get
+another when we go back to camp."
+
+"Yes, but this one is mine-----"
+
+"Was yours," corrected Nance.
+
+"It is mine, and I'm going to have it before I leave this miserable old
+hole," declared the boy.
+
+"I hope you find it.  I'd like to know how the thing ever got away in
+that mysterious manner."
+
+"Maybe the lion took it."
+
+"Mebby he did.  Funny I hadn't thought of that," answered Nance gravely.
+Then both he and the Professor burst into a shout of laughter.
+
+They made their way slowly back to the point where they were to meet
+the others of the party.  Chunky, now being without a rifle, was well
+content to remain with the guide and the Professor.
+
+While all this was going on Tad and Walter were picking their way over
+the rough ridges, through narrow canyons, riding their ponies where a
+novice would hardly have dared to walk.  The ponies seemed to take to
+the work naturally.  Not a single misstep was made by either of them.
+They, too, could hear the dogs, but the latter were far away most of
+the time, even though, for all the riders knew, they might have been
+just the other side of the rocky wall along which the two boys were
+traveling.
+
+They kept on in this way until late in the afternoon, when they stopped
+and dismounted, deciding that they would have a bite to eat.
+
+"It doesn't look as if we were going to have any luck, does it, Tad?"
+asked Walter in a disappointed tone.
+
+"No, it doesn't.  But one never can tell.  In hunting game you know it
+comes upon one suddenly.  You have to be ever on the alert.  We know
+that the dogs have been on the trail of something."
+
+"Perhaps deer," suggested Walter.
+
+"Yes, it is possible, though I don't know whether those dogs will trail
+deer or not.  You know they may be trained to hunt lions.  I didn't
+hear Mr. Nance say."
+
+They were munching biscuit and eating oranges as they rested, which
+must have tasted good to them.  The temperature was going down with
+the day, though the light was strong in the canyon where they were
+standing.  Above them the jagged, broken cliffs rose tier on tier until
+they seemed to disappear far up in the fleecy clouds that were drifting
+lazily over the Canyon.
+
+All at once Silver Face, Tad's pony, exhibited signs of restlessness,
+which seemed to be quickly communicated to the other animal.  The pintos
+stamped, shook their heads and snorted.
+
+"Whoa! What's wrong with you fellows?" demanded Tad, eyeing the ponies
+keenly.  "Smell something, eh?"
+
+"Maybe they smell oats," suggested Walter.
+
+"I guess not.  They are a long way from oats at the present moment."
+
+Tad paused abruptly.  A pebble had rattled down the rocky wall and
+bounded off some yards to the front of them.  Silver Face started and
+would have bounded away had not a firm hand been at that instant laid
+on the bridle rein.
+
+To one unaccustomed to the mountains the incident might have passed
+unnoticed.  By this time Tad Butler was a pretty keen woodsman as well
+as plainsman.  He had learned to take notice of everything.  Even the
+most trivial signs hold a meaning all their own for the man who
+habitually lives close to Nature.
+
+The lad glanced sharply at the rocks.
+
+"See anything?" asked Walter.
+
+"No."
+
+"What did you think you heard?"
+
+"I didn't hear anything but that pebble.  The horses smelled something,
+though."
+
+While he was speaking the lad's glances were traveling slowly over the
+rocks above.  All at once he paused.
+
+"Don't stir, Walt.  Look up."
+
+"Where?"
+
+"In line with that cloud that looks like a dragon.  Then lower your
+glance slowly.  I think you will see something worth while."
+
+It was a full moment before Walter Perkins discovered that to which
+his attention had been called.
+
+"It's a cat," breathed Walt, almost in awe.
+
+"Yes, that's a lion.  He is evidently hiding up there, where he has gone
+to get away from the dogs.  We will walk away a bit as if we were
+leaving.  Then we'll tether the horses securely.  Don't act as if you
+saw the beast.  I know now what was the matter with the mustangs.  They
+scented that beast up there."
+
+The ponies were quickly secured, after which the boys crouched in the
+brush and sought out the lion again.  He was still in the same place,
+but was now standing erect, head toward them, well raised as if in a
+listening attitude.
+
+"My, isn't he a fine one!" whispered Walt.  Walter Perkins was not
+suffering from the same complaint that Chunky had caught when he first
+saw his lion over in the other canyon, an offshoot from the Bright
+Angel Canyon, and where he had lost his rifle so mysteriously.
+
+"Take careful aim; then, when he turns his side toward us, let him
+have it," directed Tad.
+
+"Oh, no, you discovered him.  He is your game.  You shoot, Tad."
+
+Butler shook his head.
+
+"I want you to shoot.  I have already killed a cougar.  This is your
+chance to distinguish yourself."
+
+Walter's eyes sparkled.  He raised his rifle, leveling it through the
+crotch of a small tree.
+
+"Wait till he turns," whispered Tad, fingering his own rifle anxiously.
+He could hardly resist the temptation to take a shot at the animal
+where it stood facing them far up the side of the canyon wall.
+
+"Now!" Tad's tone was calm, steady and low.
+
+Walter's rifle barked.
+
+"You've hit him!" yelled Tad.  "Look out!  He's up again!" warned the
+boy.
+
+The beast had not been killed by the shot.  He had been bowled over,
+dropping down to a lower crag, where he sprang to his feet and with a
+roar of rage bounded up the mountainside.
+
+"Shoot! Shoot!" cried Butler.
+
+But Walter did not even raise his rifle.  A sudden fit of trembling had
+taken possession of him.  His was the "buck fever" in another form.
+
+Bang!
+
+Butler had let go a quick shot.
+
+A roar followed the shot.
+
+"Bang!"
+
+"There, I guess that settled him," decided Tad Butler, lowering his
+rifle.
+
+"I---I should say it did," gasped Walter.
+
+The tawny beast was throwing himself this way and that, the boys
+meanwhile watching him anxiously.
+
+"I'm afraid he's going to stick up there," cried Walter, dancing about
+shouting excitedly.
+
+"No, he isn't.  There he comes."
+
+"Hurray!"
+
+"Duck!"
+
+Tad grabbed his companion, jerking the latter back and running with him.
+They were just at the spot where the ponies had been tethered, when a
+heavy body struck the ground not far from where they had been standing.
+Silver Face leaped right up into the air, then settled back on his
+haunches in an attempt to break the hitching rope.
+
+Tad struck the animal against the flank with the flat of his hand,
+whereat the mustang bounded to his feet.
+
+"Whoa, you silly old animal!" cried Tad.  "Look out, Walt, don't get
+too near that lion.  You may lose some of your clothes if he shouldn't
+happen to be dead.  I'll be there in a moment, as soon as I can get
+these horses quieted down."
+
+In a moment Tad was running toward his companion.
+
+"Is he settled?"
+
+"I don't know.  His---his eyes are open," stammered Walter, standing off
+a safe distance from the prostrate beast.
+
+Tad poked the animal with the muzzle of his rifle.
+
+"Yes, he's a dead one.  One less brute to make war on the deer.  Won't
+old Dad be surprised when we trail into camp with this big game?"
+exulted the Pony Rider boy.
+
+"Yes, but---but how are we going to get the fellow there?" wondered
+Walter.
+
+"Get him there?  Well, I guess we'll do it somehow.  I'll tell you
+what, I'll take him over the saddle in front of me.  That's the idea.
+You bring out Silver Face and we'll see how he feels about it.  I
+wouldn't be surprised if he raised a row."
+
+Silver Face did object most emphatically.  The instant the pony came
+in sight of the dead lion he sat down on his haunches.  Tad urged and
+threatened, but not another inch would the pinto budge.
+
+"I guess I know how to fix you," gritted the boy.
+
+He was on the back of the sitting mustang, his feet in the stirrups,
+before the pony realized what had happened.  A reasonably sharp rowel,
+pressed into the pinto's side, brought him a good two feet clear of
+the ground.
+
+Then began a lively battle between the boy and the horse.
+
+"Don't let him tread on the beast," shouted Walter.
+
+"N-n-no danger of that," stammered Tad.  It was a lively battle while
+it lasted, but Silver Face realized, as he had never done before, that
+he had met his master.  After some twenty minutes of fight, in which
+the pinto made numerous futile attempts to climb the sheer side of
+the canyon at the imminent danger of toppling over backwards and
+crushing his master, the brute gave up.
+
+"Now you hold him while I load on the beast," directed Tad, riding up.
+
+This called for more disturbance.  Silver Face fought against taking
+a lion on his back.  He drew the line at that.  Just the same, after
+another lively scrimmage, Mr. Lion was loaded on, but no sooner had
+Tad swung into the saddle than he swung out again.  He hadn't even
+time to get his toes in the stirrups before he was flying through the
+air, head first.  Walter had difficulty in determining which was boy
+and which was lion.  The lion struck the ground first, Tad landing on
+top of him.
+
+With rare presence of mind, Walter had seized the pinto and was having
+a lively set-to with the beast, with the odds in favor of Silver Face,
+when Tad sprang up and ran to his companion's assistance.
+
+Tad's temper was up.  The way he grilled Silver Face that animal
+perhaps never forgot.  Not that Tad abused his mount.  He never would
+be guilty of abusing a horse.  He was too fond of horseflesh to do
+such a thing, but he knew how to punish an animal in other and more
+effective ways.  Silver Face was punished.
+
+"Now, my fine fellow, let's see who's boss here!" laughed Tad.  "Hold
+him while I put aboard the baggage, Walt."
+
+The pony submitted to the ordeal a second time.  This time there was
+no bucking, and shortly afterwards the lads started for their
+companions bearing the trophy of their hunt with them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+A NEW WAY TO HUNT LIONS
+
+
+Long before they reached the meeting point they heard the long-drawn
+"Woohoo!" of Jim Nance calling them in.  They were the only ones
+out at that time.  Tad set up a series of answering "woos-hoos" that
+caused Silver Face to wiggle his ears disapprovingly, as if this were
+some new method of torture invented for his special benefit.
+
+As they got in sight of the rest of the party, the boys set up a shout.
+Their companions, about that time, discovered that Tad was carrying
+something before him on the pony.  Chunky and Ned started on a run to
+meet Tad and Walter.  How Chunky did yell when he discovered what that
+something was.
+
+"They've got a cat!  They've got a cat!" he howled, dancing about and
+swinging his arms.  "I tell you, they've got a cat!"
+
+Tad rode into camp smiling, flinging the lion to the ground, which
+caused Tad's pony to perform once more.
+
+"Who shot him?" cried the Professor, fully as excited as the boys.
+
+"This is a partnership cat," laughed Tad.  "We both have some bullets
+in him.  How many did you fellows get?"
+
+"Well, I had one, but he got away," answered Stacy, his face sobering
+instantly.  "And---and he carried off my rifle too."
+
+"What's that?" demanded Tad.
+
+Chunky explained briefly.  But he had little opportunity to talk.  Dad,
+who had been examining the dead lion, straightened up and looked at Tad.
+
+"Good job, boys.  It's a dandy.  Must weigh nigh onto three hundred
+pounds.  Have much of a tussle with him?"
+
+"Not any.  He was dead when he got down to us."
+
+"Very fine specimen," decided the Professor, examining the dead beast
+from a respectable distance.  "You lads are to be congratulated."
+
+"Say, I'm going with you to-morrow," cried Stacy.  "These folks don't
+know how to hunt lions."
+
+"Do you?" demanded Nance witheringly.
+
+Stacy colored violently.
+
+"At least I know how to stalk them," he answered.  "If I lose my gun in
+the excitement that doesn't mean that I'm not a natural born lion
+chaser.  Anybody can shoot a lion, but everybody can't sit still and
+charm the lion right up to him."
+
+They admitted that the fat boy was right in this assertion.  Chunky
+had done all of that.  Upon their return to camp, Walter and Tad had
+asked numerous questions about the loss of the gun.  There was little
+additional information that either Stacy or the two men could give
+them.  The gun had most mysteriously disappeared, that was all.  Nance
+was more puzzled than any of the others and he groped in vain for an
+explanation of the mystery, but no satisfactory explanation suggested
+itself to his mind.
+
+After supper the guide cut some meat from the cat and fed it to the
+weary dogs, who had not succeeded in treeing a single lion, though they
+had come near doing so several times.  But they had sent the cats
+flying for cover, which had given Chunky and the other two boys
+opportunity to use their guns, though Stacy Brown, in his excitement,
+had failed to take advantage of the opportunity offered to him.
+
+It was decided that the hunt should be taken up again on the following
+morning.  Nance said Stacy might go with Tad this time, Nance taking
+charge of the other three boys.  This was satisfactory to Chunky
+and Tad.
+
+The morning found the camp awake at an early hour.  Chunky and Tad set
+off together, the former having been equipped with a rifle from the
+extra supply carried by the party, the guide having administered a
+sarcastic suggestion that Chunky tie the rifle to his back so that he
+would not lose this one.
+
+Chunky made appropriate reply, after which they rode away.  The early
+part of the day was devoid of success.  They did not even hear the
+bay of a hound all the forenoon.  Tad took their quest coolly,
+undisturbed.  He had already gotten one lion and could well afford not
+to get one this time.  It was different with Stacy.  He was anxious
+to distinguish himself, to make amends for his blunders of the
+previous day.
+
+About an hour after they had eaten their lunch they heard the bounds
+for the first time.  Tad listened intently for a few minutes.
+
+"I think they are coming this way, Chunky."
+
+"If they do, you give me the first shot.  I've simply got to meet
+another cat."
+
+"You shall have it, providing you are on the job and ready.  These cats
+don't wait around for a fellow to get ready to shoot, as you have no
+doubt observed."
+
+"Don't remind me of disagreeable things, please," growled Stacy.  "I've
+had my chance and I lost it.  Next time I see a cat I'm going to kill
+him on the spot.  Wait; I'm going to take an observation."
+
+"Don't go far," warned Tad.
+
+"No, I won't.  Just want to have a look at the landscape," flung back
+Stacy, hurrying away, while Tad stretched out for a little rest, well
+satisfied to have Stacy do the moving about until there was something
+real to be done, when Tad would be on hand on the jump.
+
+Stacy had not taken his gun.  In fact, he wholly forgot to do so, not
+thinking for an instant that he would have opportunity to use it.  This
+was where the fat boy made another serious mistake.  A hunter should
+never be beyond reaching distance of his gun when out on the trail
+for game.  It is a mistake that has cost some men their lives, others
+the loss of much coveted game.
+
+Choosing a low, bushy pinyon tree as best suited to the purposes of a
+lazy climber, Stacy climbed it, grunting and grumbling unintelligibly.
+He had hopes that he might discover something worth while, something
+that would distinguish him from his fellows on that particular day.
+
+"I feel as if something were going to happen," he confided to the tree,
+seating himself in a crotch formed by a limb extending out from the
+main body of the tree, then parting the foliage for a better view.
+"It's funny how a fellow feels about these things some times.  Hello,
+there, I actually believe those are deer running yonder.  Or maybe
+they're cows," added Stacy.  "Anyhow I couldn't shoot them, whichever
+they are, so I won't get excited over them."
+
+Chunky fixed his eyes on the opposite side of the tree a little above
+where he was perched.
+
+"I thought I saw something move there.  Hello, I hear the hounds again.
+They've surely gotten on track of something.  And-----"
+
+Once more the fat boy paused.  He saw something yellow lying along a
+limb of the tree, something at first sight that he took to be a snake.
+But he knew of no snakes that had fur on their bodies.  The round, furry
+thing that he thought might be a snake at first now began whipping up
+and down on the limb, curling at its end, twisting, performing strange
+antics.
+
+What could it mean?  Stacy parted the foliage a little more, then once
+again, as had been the case on the previous day, his eyes opened wide.
+
+He saw now what was at the other end of the snake-like appendage.  And
+seeing he understood that he was in a predicament.  But Chunky's voice
+failed him.
+
+There on the opposite limb of the tree, less than ten feet away,
+crouched the biggest mountain lion Stacy Brown ever had seen.  And
+it grew larger with the seconds.  The beast was working its tail, its
+whiskers bristled, its eyes shone like points of steel.  It seemed as
+if the beast were trying to decide whether to attack the boy within
+such easy reach or to leap to the ground and flee.  The deep baying of
+the dogs in the distance evidently decided the cat against the latter
+plan.  Then, too, perhaps the howls that Chunky now emitted had
+something to do with the former question.
+
+Tad Butler, stretched out on the ground, found himself standing bolt
+upright as if he had been propelled to that position by a spring.  The
+most unearthly howls he had ever heard broke upon the mountain stillness.
+
+"Wow!  Ow-wow-wow!  Tad!  Help, help, help!  Quick!"
+
+Tad was off like a shot himself, not even pausing to snatch up his gun
+which lay so near at hand.  And how he did run!
+
+"Where, Chunky?  Where are you?  Shout quick!"
+
+"Wow!  Ow-wow-wow!" was the only answer Stacy Brown could make, but the
+sound of his voice unerringly guided Tad to the location.  But Stacy
+could not be found.
+
+"In the name of-----"
+
+"Wow!  Ow-wow-wow!" howled the agonized voice of the fat boy from the
+branches of the pinyon tree.
+
+Tad peered up between the branches.  He saw Stacy looking down upon him
+with panic stricken gaze.
+
+"For the love of goodness, what's the matter, Stacy?  You nearly
+frightened me to death."
+
+"Look out!" The words, shouted at the top of the fat boy's voice, were
+so thrilling that Tad leaped back instinctively.
+
+"See here, don't make a fool of me, too.  What's the matter with you?
+Come down out of that."
+
+"I can't.  He'll get me."
+
+"What will get you?  Nothing will get you, you ninny!"
+
+"The lion will get me."
+
+"Have you gone raving mad on the subject of lions?" jeered Butler.
+
+"Look, if you don't believe me.  He's up here.  He's trying to get a
+bite out of me.  Shoot him, as you love me, Tad; shoot and shoot
+straight or I'm a dead one."
+
+For the first time since his arrival on the scene Tad began to realize
+that Stacy was not having fun with him.  Something really was up that
+tree---something besides a Pony Rider boy.
+
+"You don't mean to tell me there's a cat up there-----"
+
+"Yes, yes!  He's over there on the other side.  Shoot, shoot!"
+
+"I haven't my gun with me."
+
+The fat boy groaned helplessly.
+
+"I'm a dead one!  Nothing can save me.  Tell them I died like a man;
+tell them I never uttered a squeal."
+
+Tad had sprung around to the side of the pinyon tree indicated by Chunky.
+Up there on a bushy limb, clear of the heavier foliage, lay a sleek,
+but ugly looking cat, swishing its tail angrily.  First, its glances
+would shoot over to Stacy Brown, then down to Tad Butler.  The lion,
+as Tad decided on the spot, had gone into the tree to hide from the
+dogs as had the one that had been shot on the canyon wall the previous
+afternoon.  This time the proposition was a different one.  Both boys
+were in dire peril, as Tad well knew.  At any second the cat might
+spring, either at him or at Stacy.  And neither boy had a gun in
+his hands.
+
+Tad's mind worked with lightning-like rapidity.  It was a time for quick
+thinking if one expected to save one's skin from being torn by those
+needle-like claws.  Butler thought of a plan.  He did not know whether
+there were one chance in a million of the plan working.  He wanted that
+lion a great deal more than the lion wanted him.  He was going to take
+a desperate chance.  An older and more experienced man might not have
+cared to try what Tad Butler was about to attempt.
+
+The Pony Rider boy's hand slipped down to the lasso hanging from his
+belt.  He was thankful that he had that.  The lasso was always there
+except when he was in the saddle, when it was usually looped over the
+pommel.
+
+"Chunky, yell!  Make all the noise you can."
+
+"I am.  Wow-ow-wow.  Y-e-o-w wow!"
+
+"That's right, keep it up.  Don't stop.  Make faces at him, make believe
+you're going to jump at-----"
+
+"Say, anybody would think this were a game of croquet and that I was
+trying to make the other fellow miss the wicket.  Don't you think-----"
+
+"I'm trying to get you to attract his attention-----"
+
+"I don't want to attract his attention.  I want the beast to look the
+other way," wailed the fat boy.  "I want to get out of here."
+
+"Well, why haven't you?"
+
+"I dassent."
+
+While carrying on this conversation with his chum, Tad was watching the
+cat narrowly.  The animal was showing signs of greater excitement now.
+The boy decided that the beast was preparing to jump one way or
+another---which way was a matter of some concern to both boys at that
+particular instant.
+
+The cat took two long paces in Stacy's direction.  Stacy emitted the
+most blood-curdling yell Tad had ever heard.  It served Butler's very
+purpose.  The beast halted with one hind foot poised in the air, glaring
+at Stacy, who was howling more lustily than ever.
+
+Swish!
+
+Tad's lariat shot through the air.  His aim was true, his hand steady
+and cool.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+THE WHIRLWIND BALL OF YELLOW
+
+
+When the startled cat felt the touch of the raw-hide rope against its
+leg it made a tremendous leap straight ahead.
+
+"Too late!" clicked Tad.  "That loop is taut on you now!"
+
+"M-m-murder! Look out!" bellowed Stacy.
+
+For the cat's leap had carried it straight at the fat boy.  In fact one
+sharp set of claws raked the lad from shoulder to waist, though without
+more than breaking the skin.
+
+That blow settled Stacy.
+
+"I'm dead---ripped to pieces!" he yelled.
+
+Without waiting to jump from the tree, Stacy simply fell.  Over and
+over on the ground he rolled until he was a dozen yards away from the
+tree.
+
+"If you're dead," Tad grinned, "get up and come over here, and tell me
+about it."
+
+Stacy slowly rose to his feet.  He was badly shaken, covered with dirt
+and with some blood showing through the rents in his clothes.
+
+"Nothing but my presence of mind and my speed saved me, anyway,"
+Chunky grumbled ruefully.
+
+All in a twinkling that whirling yellow ball shot out of the tree,
+striking the ground before Tad Butler could draw the rope taut.
+However, the rope still hung over a limb.  How the dirt flew!  Tad
+realized that swift action must come ere the beast should make a leap
+at them.
+
+Stacy started away, but Butler's sharp tone halted him.
+
+"Chunky!" Tad panted.
+
+"What?"
+
+"Get hold of this rope with me.  Shake yourself.  What ails you?  Have
+you got a streak of yellow in you?"
+
+"I can thrash the fellow who says I have?" roared the fat boy, springing
+to his feet.
+
+"That's the way to talk.  Come, hurry---get hold here!  He's too much
+for me and he's going to get away from me if you don't lend a hand."
+
+"Wh-what do you want me to do?"
+
+"Grab hold of this rope, I tell you."
+
+Chunky did so, but keeping a wary eye on the rolling, tumbling, spitting
+yellow ball, which was a full grown mountain lion, and an ugly brute.
+The king of the canyons, however, was in a most humiliating position
+for a king of any sort.  He had been roped by his left hind foot, the
+other end of the rope being in the hands of the intrepid Pony Rider boy,
+Thaddeus Butler.  Tad knew well that he had a good thing and he proposed
+to hang on as long as there was an ounce of strength left in his body.
+By this time Stacy had gotten a grip on the rope.
+
+"Now pull steadily until I tell you to stop."
+
+Slowly, digging his claws into the dirt, biting at the rope that held
+him fast, the cat was drawn toward the pinyon tree despite all his
+struggles.  Tad's object was to pull the beast off its feet, in which
+position it would be unable to do very much damage.
+
+Perhaps the cat realized something of this, for all of a sudden it
+sprang to the base of the tree and with a roar landed up among the
+lower limbs.
+
+Ere the beast even felt the touch of the tree limb under its feet, the
+brave Chunky was several rods away peering from behind a rock, howling
+like a Comanche Indian.
+
+Tad, too, had made some lively moves.  The instant he saw that the cat
+was going to jump he took a quick twist about the tree, shortening the
+rope until it was taut.  He made a quick knot, then leaped back out of
+the way.  But none too soon.  The cat pounced on the spot where he had
+been standing, narrowly missing the boy.  But the rope was free of the
+limb of the tree over which it had been first drawn.  The beast was
+free to gambol about as far as the rope would permit.
+
+The boy's mind was still working rapidly.
+
+"Run to the guns, Chunky.  Shoot and keep shooting until you attract
+the attention of the rest of the party.  We've got to have help.  We
+never shall be able to handle him ourselves, and I want to save him."
+
+Stacy hesitated.
+
+"Run, I tell you!" shouted Butler.  "Don't stand there like a statue.
+Go!"
+
+Chunky jumped as if he had been hit, and ran limping toward the place
+where they had left their weapons and their mustangs.  He found both,
+though Chunky was too excited to notice the ponies at all.  Already
+they were restless, having scented the mountain lion.
+
+Snatching up his own rifle, Stacy fired six shots in rapid succession.
+Then grabbing the other gun, he let six more go, but continued snapping
+the firing pin on the empty chamber after all the cartridges had been
+exploded, before he realized that he was not shooting at all.  Stacy
+in trying to reload fumbled and made a mess of it, spilling a lot of
+shells on the ground, most of which he was unable to find again.
+
+"We got him!  We got him!" the fat boy kept chuckling to himself.  "We
+certainly have done it this time."
+
+Finally he got one gun loaded, and had fired it off six times when he
+heard Tad Butler's "Whoo-e-e-e-e."
+
+Chunky hurried back to his companion.
+
+"They've answered," called Tad.
+
+In the meantime the latter had been having a lively time.  He knew that
+were he to give the least possible chance the beast would bite the
+rope off and escape even if he did no worse.  It was to prevent this
+that the boy exerted all his ingenuity and effort.  This consisted of
+whoops and howls, throwing rocks at the animal, dodging in now and then
+to whack the lion with a piece from a limb that had been broken down
+by the cat in its thrashing above.
+
+The dust was flying.  At times it seemed as if the lion must have gotten
+the hardy Pony Rider boy.  At such times the lithe, active form of Tad
+Butler could be seen leaping from the cloud of dust while the beast
+followed with savage lunges to the end of its rope.  It seemed
+impossible to tire out either boy or cat.
+
+It was this condition of affairs that Stacy Brown came upon on his
+return.  He stood gazing at the scene, fascinated.
+
+"Look out, Tad!  He'll get you!" shouted the boy.
+
+"Get in here and give him a poke in the ribs," cried Butler.
+
+"Not for a million dollars, badly as I need money," returned the fat
+boy.  "What do you take me for, an animal trainer?"
+
+"Then I'll have to keep on doing it till Mr. Nance gets here to help
+me.  This is the greatest thing we've ever done, old boy!"
+
+"Yes, it'll be a great thing when the brute hands you one from those
+garden rakes of his.  Get away and I'll shoot him," directed Stacy,
+swinging his rifle into position.
+
+"Put that gun down!" thundered Tad.  "You'll be winging me next thing
+you do.  Put it down, I say!"
+
+Stacy grumblingly obeyed.  Meanwhile the gymnastic exercise continued
+with unabated vigor.  There was not an instant's pause.  The mountain
+lion was busier perhaps than it ever had been in its life.  It was
+battling for its life, too, and it knew it.
+
+Once Tad was raked from head to foot by a vicious claw, but the Pony
+Rider boy merely laughed.  His endurance, too, was most remark able.
+Stacy would hardly get within gun-shot of the beast, always standing
+near a tree convenient for climbing.  Tad was not saying much now.  He
+was rather too busy for conversation.  At last the report of a rifle
+was heard not far away.
+
+"Answer them.  It's the gang," called Tad.  Chunky fired a shot into
+the air, following it with four others.  It was only a short time
+before Jim Nance with Professor Zepplin and the two other boys came
+dashing up, shouting to know where Tad and Chunky were.  They saw
+Chunky first, on guard with his rifle as if holding off an enemy.
+
+"What's the trouble?" cried Nance.
+
+"We've got him!  We've got him!" yelled Stacy.
+
+About that time Nance discovered the swirling cloud of dust, from which
+at intervals emerged a yellow ball.  The guide caught the significance
+of the scene at a single glance.
+
+"It's a cat," howled Ned.  "Let me shoot him."
+
+"Put away your guns.  I guess we know how to catch lions in a scientific
+manner," declared Stacy.
+
+"They've roped the cat," snapped the guide.  "Beats anything I ever
+heard of."  He was off his mustang instantly and running toward Tad.
+"Keep him busy, keep him busy, boy.  I'll fix him for you in a minute."
+
+"I don't want you to kill him."
+
+"I'm not going to.  We've got to stretch him."
+
+Tad did not know what stretching meant in this particular instance, but
+he was soon to learn.  Nance got off to one side of the busy scene, then
+directed Tad to ease up a bit.  The boy did so.  He saw that Dad, too,
+was planning to use his lariat, though the boy had no idea in what way.
+The cat instantly sat down and began tearing at its bonds.  All at once
+Nance's rope shot through the air.  It caught the lion fairly around
+the neck.
+
+For a few moments the air was full of streaks of yellow.  The cat was
+now fast at both ends.  The neck hold was the worse of the two, for it
+choked the beast and soon tired him out.
+
+"Now stretch him," directed the guide.
+
+"How do you mean?"
+
+"Take a single hitch about the tree with your rope, so that we can
+straighten him out."
+
+This Tad did, while Nance performed a similar service on his own line,
+being careful not to choke the lion to death.  During this latter part
+of the proceeding the party that had up to that time held off, now
+approached.
+
+"Will he bite?" asked Walter.
+
+"Stick your finger in his mouth and see?" jeered Chunky.  "He can
+scratch, too.  But we got him, didn't we?  We're the original lion
+tamers from the wild and woolly West."
+
+"Come, who is going to tie those claws together, Stacy?" demanded the
+guide.
+
+"Do what?"
+
+"Tie the cat's feet together."
+
+"Let the Professor do it.  He hasn't done anything yet on this trip.
+Besides, I've got to stand here ready to shoot if the lion gets away.
+If it weren't for that I'd tie his feet."
+
+"Here, you tie his feet, then.  I'll handle the gun," volunteered Ned,
+stepping forward.
+
+Chunky drew back.
+
+"If some one will hold my end of the line I'll attend to that little
+matter," said Tad.
+
+"I guess it's time I did something around here," interjected Ned.
+"What do you want me to do, Mr. Nance?"
+
+"Take your rope, watch your opportunity and rope the forward legs.
+After that is done have somebody hold the rope while you tie the feet
+securely together."
+
+Ned roped the feet without further question, then handing the line to
+Walter Perkins, he calmly tied together the feet of the snarling,
+spitting beast.  The same was done with the hind feet, though the
+latter proved to be much more dangerous than the forward feet.  But
+the mouth of the animal was still free.  He could bite and he did make
+desperate efforts to get at his captors.  They took good care that
+he did not reach them.  Chunky suggested that they pull the cat's
+teeth, so he couldn't bite.  Tad wanted to know if they couldn't
+put a muzzle on.
+
+"The question is what are you going to do with him, now that you have
+him?" demanded the Professor.
+
+"That's the first sane word that's been spoken since we arrived here,"
+grinned Nance.
+
+"We are going to take him back to camp, of course," declared Tad.
+
+"Of course we are.  Don't you understand, we're going to take him back
+to camp," affirmed Stacy.
+
+"What's your plan, Butler?" asked Nance.
+
+"If you leave it to me, I'll show you."
+
+"Go ahead."
+
+Tad cut a long, tough sapling.  This, after some effort, he managed to
+pass through the loop made by the bound legs of the lion.  This strung
+the beast on the pole.
+
+"Now, we'll fasten the two ends to two ponies," decided the lad.
+
+Silver Face and Walter's pony having been broken in on the previous
+day, these two were chosen to carry the prize.  They did not object,
+and in a short time the procession started off for camp, with the lion,
+back down, strung on the pole between two ponies, snarling, spitting,
+roaring out his resentment, while Chunky, leading the way, was
+singing at the top of his voice:
+
+_"Tad Butler is the man; he goes to all the shows, he sticks his
+head in the lion's mouth and tells you all he knows. Who-o-o-pe-e-e!"_
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+THE UNWILLING GUEST DEPARTS
+
+
+Jim Nance didn't say much, but from the way he looked at Tad Butler,
+a quizzical smile playing about the corners of his mouth, it was plain
+that he was filled with admiration for the young Pony Rider who could
+take a lion practically single-handed.
+
+As yet the story of the capture had not been told.  Their prize must
+first be taken care of.  This part of the affair Nance looked after
+personally.  He found a few strands of wire in his kit and with these
+he made a collar and a wire leader that led out to where the tough
+lariat began.  To this the lion was fastened, his forefeet left bound,
+the hind feet being liberated In this condition he was tied to a tree
+in the camp in Bright Angel Gulch.
+
+Chunky was not sure that he liked the arrangement.  He was wondering
+whether lions were gifted with the proverbial memory of elephants.
+If so, and if the big cat should get loose in the night, Chunky knew
+what would happen to himself.  The boy determined to sleep with one
+eye open, his rifle beside his bed.  He would die fighting bravely for
+his life.  He was determined upon that.
+
+Around the camp fire a jolly party of boys gathered that night after
+supper, their merry conversation interrupted occasionally by a snarling
+and growling from the captive.
+
+"Now, young gentlemen, we are anxious to hear the story of the capture,"
+said the Professor.
+
+"Oh, it was nothing," answered Stacy airily.  "It was nothing for us.
+Shooting cats is too tame for such hunters as Tad and me.  We just saw
+him up a tree---that is, I saw him, and-----"
+
+"Where were you?" interrupted Nance.
+
+"I was up the same tree," answered Stacy.
+
+"I'll bet the cat treed him," shouted Ned Rector.  "How about it, Tad?"
+
+"Chunky's telling the story.  Let him tell it in his own way."
+
+"I'll tell you about it, fellows.  I was up a tree looking for lions.
+I found one.  He was sitting in the same tree with me.  He was licking
+his chops.  You see, he wanted a slice of me, I'm so tender and so
+delicious-----"
+
+"So is a rhinoceros," interjected Ned.
+
+"If the gentleman will wait until I have finished he may have the floor
+to himself.  Well, that's about all.  I yelled for Tad.  He came
+running, and he roped the cat."
+
+"Then what did you do?" questioned Walter.
+
+"Oh, I fell out of the tree.  Look at this!" shouted Stacy as soon as
+he was able to make himself heard above the laughter, pointing to his
+ripped clothes.  "That's where the beast made a pass at me.  I'm wounded,
+I am; wounded in a hand-to-hand conflict with the king of the canyon.
+How would that read in the Chillicothe 'Gazette' I'm going to dash off
+something after this fashion to send them: 'Stacy Brown, our
+distinguished fellow citizen, globe-trotter, hunter of big game and
+nature lover, was seriously wounded last week in the Grand Canyon of
+Arizona-----'"
+
+"In what part of your anatomy is the Grand Canyon located?" questioned
+Ned Rector.  "I rise for information."
+
+"The Grand Canyon is where the Pony Rider Boys store their food,"
+returned Stacy quickly.  "Where did I leave off?"
+
+"You were lost in the Canyon," reminded Walter.
+
+"Oh, yes.  'Was seriously wounded in the Grand Canyon in a desperate
+battle with the largest lion ever caught in the mountains.  Assisted
+by Thaddeus Butler, also of Chillicothe, Mr. Brown succeeded in
+capturing the lion alive, after his bloodstained garments had been
+nearly stripped from his person.'"
+
+"The lion's bloodstained garments?" inquired Walter mildly.
+
+"No, mine, of course.  'Mr.  Brown, it is said, will recover from his
+wounds, though he will bear the scars of the conflict the rest of his
+life.' Ahem!  I guess that will hold the boys on our block for a
+time," finished Chunky, swelling out his chest.  "Yes, that'll make
+them prisoners for life," agreed Ned Rector.
+
+"I think I shall have to edit that account before it goes to the paper,"
+declared Professor Zepplin.
+
+"How can you edit it when you didn't see the affair?" demanded Chunky.
+
+"Editors are not supposed to see beyond the point of the pencil they
+are using," answered Ned.  "But they know the failings of the fellows
+who do the writing."
+
+"What do you know about it?  You never were an editor," scoffed Stacy.
+
+"No, but I'd like to be for about an hour after your article reached
+the 'Gazette' office."
+
+"How about giving that cat something to eat, Mr. Nance?" asked Tad, thus
+changing the subject.
+
+The guide shook his head.
+
+"He wouldn't eat; at least not for a while."
+
+"What do lions eat?" asked Walter.
+
+"That one tried to eat me," replied Stacy.  "I don't like the look in
+his eye at all.  It says, just as plain as if it were printed, 'I'd like
+to have you served up _a-la-mode_.'"
+
+At this juncture, Jim Nance walked over; with a burning brand in hand,
+to look at the cat's fastenings.  The lion jumped at him.  Jim poked
+the firebrand into the animal's face, which sent the cat back the
+full length of his tether.  After examining the fastenings carefully,
+Nance pronounced them so secure that the beast would not get away.
+
+The ponies had been tethered some distance from where the prize was
+tied, the dogs being placed with the ponies so that they might not be
+disturbed by the captive during the night and thus keep the camp awake
+with their barks and growls.
+
+After a time all hands went to bed, crawling into their blankets,
+where they were soon fast asleep.  Late in the night Nance sat up.
+He thought he had heard the lion growl.  Stepping to the door of the
+tent he listened.  Not a sound could be heard save the mysterious
+whisperings of the Canyon.  Jim went back to bed, not to awaken until
+the sun was up on the following morning.
+
+Tad Butler, hearing the guide rise after daylight, turned out at the
+same time.  Tad stepped outside, his first thought being for the
+captive.  The Pony Rider boy's eyes grew large as he gazed at the tree
+where the cat had been left the evening before.  There was no lion there.
+
+"Hey, Mr. Nance, did you move the cat?"
+
+"No.  Why?"
+
+"He isn't where we left him last night."
+
+"What?" Nance was out on the jump.  "Sure as you're alive he's gone.
+Now doesn't that beat all?"
+
+Tad had hurried over to the place where he stood gloomily surveying
+the scene.
+
+"I wonder where the rope and wire are?"
+
+"That's so.  He must have carried the whole business with him."
+
+"How could he?  How could he have untied the wire from the tree?  There
+is something peculiar about this affair, Dad."
+
+Whatever Dad's opinion might have been, he did not express it at the
+moment.  Instead he got down on all fours, examining the ground
+carefully, going over every inch of it for several rods about the scene.
+
+"Well this does git me," he declared, standing up, scratching his head
+reflectively.
+
+By that time the rest of the party had come out.
+
+"The lion's gone," shouted Tad.
+
+"What, my lion got away?" wailed Chunky.  "And he didn't take a chunk
+out of me to carry away with him?"
+
+"I had no idea we could hold him.  Of course he gnawed the rope in
+two," nodded the Professor.
+
+"He didn't get loose of his own accord, sir," replied the guide.
+
+"Then you don't mean to tell me that some person or persons liberated
+him?"
+
+"I don't mean to tell you anything, because I don't know anything about
+it.  I never was so befuddled in my life.  I'm dead-beat, Professor."
+
+Tad was gloomy.  He had hoped to take the lion home with them, having
+already planned where he would keep the beast until the town, which he
+thought of presenting it to, had prepared a place for the gift.  Now his
+hopes had been dashed.  He had no idea that they would be able to get
+another lion.  It was not so easy as all that.  But how had the beast
+gotten away?  There was a mystery about it fully as perplexing as had
+been the loss of Stacy's rifle.  Tad was beginning to think, with Dad,
+that mysterious forces were, indeed, at work in the Grand Canyon.
+
+While he was brooding over the problem, Chunky, emulating the movements
+of the guide, was down on hands and knees, examining the ground.
+
+"Find any footprints?" called Ned in a jeering voice.
+
+Stacy did not reply.  His brow was wrinkled; his face wore a wise
+expression.
+
+"Look out that you don't get bitten," warned Walter mischievously.
+
+"By what?" demanded Stacy, glancing up.
+
+"Footprints," answered Ned.
+
+"Could any person have gotten in here and let the cat go without our
+having heard him, Mr. Nance?" asked Tad Butler.
+
+"I reckon he couldn't."
+
+"Did you hear anything in the night, Nance?" questioned the Professor.
+
+"Come to think of it, I did get up once.  I heard the cat growling, or
+thought I did, but after I had looked out and seen nothing, nor heard
+anything, I went back to bed again and didn't know anything more till
+sun-up.  I guess I'm pretty slow.  I'm getting old for a certainty."
+
+"No; there is something peculiar, something very strange about this
+affair, Professor," spoke up Tad.
+
+"Due wholly to natural causes," declared the Professor.
+
+"No, I reckon you're wrong there, Professor," said Nance.  "I'd have
+understood natural causes.  It's the unnatural causes that gets a
+fellow."
+
+"I've spotted it, I've spotted it!  I know who freed the lion!"
+howled Stacy.
+
+All hands rushed to him.
+
+"Who, what, how, where, when?" demanded five voices at once.
+
+"Yes, sir, I've found it.  That lion-----"
+
+"Don't joke," rebuked the Professor.
+
+"I'm not joking.  I know what I'm talking about.  That cat was let go
+by a one-legged Indian.  Now maybe you won't say I'm not a natural born
+sleuth," exclaimed the fat boy proudly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+THE FAT BOY DOES A GHOST DANCE
+
+
+"A one-legged Indian?" chorused the lads.
+
+"He's crazy," grumbled Dad.  "He has cat on the brain."
+
+"That's better than having nothing but hair on the brain," retorted
+Stacy witheringly.
+
+"How do you know a one-legged Indian has been here?" questioned Tad,
+seeing that Chunky was in earnest.
+
+"Look here," said the boy, pointing to a moccasin print in the soft
+turf at that point.  "There's the right foot.  Where's the left?  Why
+there wasn't any left, of course.  He had only one foot."
+
+"Then he must have carried a crutch," laughed Ned.  "Look for the crutch
+mark and then you'll have the mystery solved."
+
+Jim Nance chuckled.  Stacy regarded the guide with disapproving eyes.
+
+"Tell me so I can laugh too," begged Chunky soberly.
+
+"Why, you poor little tenderfoot, don't you know how that one track got
+there?"
+
+Chunky shook his head.
+
+"Well, that cowardly half breed that you call Chow was crossing the
+rocks here when the cat made a pass at him.  Chow made a long leap.
+One foot struck there, the other about ten feet the other side.  He
+hadn't time to put the second foot down else the cat would have got
+him.  A one-legged Indian!  Oh, help!"
+
+"Haw-haw-haw!" mocked Stacy, striding away disgustedly while the shouts
+of his companions were ringing in his burning ears.
+
+But the mystery was unsolved.  Tad did not believe it ever would be,
+though he never ceased puzzling over it for a moment.  That day no one
+got a lion, though on the second day following Ned Rector shot a small
+cat.  Tad did not try to shoot.  He wandered with Chunky all over the
+peaks and through the Canyon in that vicinity trying to rope more lions.
+
+"You let that job out," ordered the guide finally.  "Don't you know
+you're monkeying with fire?  First thing you know you won't know
+anything.  One of these times a cat'll put you to sleep for a year of
+Sundays."
+
+"I guess you are right.  Not that I am afraid, but there is no sense
+in taking such long chances.  I'll drop it.  I ought to be pretty well
+satisfied with what I have done."
+
+Tad kept his word.  He made no further attempts to rope mountain lions.
+In the succeeding few days three more cats were shot.  It was on the
+night of the fourth day after the escape of the captive that at
+something very exciting occurred in Camp Butler.
+
+The camp was silent, all its occupants sound asleep, when suddenly they
+were brought bounding from their cots by frightful howls and yells of
+fear.  The howls came from the tent of Stacy Brown.  Stacy himself
+followed, leaping out into what they called the company street, dancing
+up and down, still howling at the top of his voice.  Clad in pajamas,
+the fat boy was unconsciously giving a clever imitation of an Indian
+ghost dance.
+
+Professor Zepplin was the first to reach the fat boy.  He gave Chunky
+a violent shaking, while Nance was darting about the camp to see that
+all was right.  He saw nothing unusual.
+
+"What is the meaning of this, young man?" demanded the Professor.
+
+"I seen it, I seen it," howled Stacy.
+
+"What did you see?"
+
+"A ghost!  I seen a ghost!"
+
+"You mean you 'saw' a ghost, not you 'seen'," corrected the Professor.
+
+"I tell you I _seen_ a ghost.  I guess if you'd seen a ghost you
+wouldn't stop to choose words.  You'd just howl like a lunatic in your
+own natural language-----"
+
+Dad hastily threw more wood on the dying camp fire.
+
+"I guess you had a nightmare," suggested Tad.
+
+"It wasn't a mare, it was a man," persisted Stacy.
+
+"He's crazy.  Pity he doesn't catch sleeping sickness," scoffed Ned.
+
+"Tell us what you did see," urged the Professor in a milder tone.
+
+"I---I was sleeping in---in there when all at once I woke up-----"
+
+"You thought you did, perhaps," nodded Walter.
+
+"I didn't think anything of the sort.  I know I did.  Maybe I'd heard
+something.  Well, I woke up and there---and there-----" Chunky's eyes
+grew big, he stared wildly across the camp fire as if the terrifying
+scene were once more before him.  "I woke up."
+
+"You have told us that before," reminded Dad, who had joined the group.
+
+"I woke up-----"
+
+"That makes four times you woke up," laughed Ned.  "You must, indeed,
+have had a restless night."
+
+"I woke up-----"
+
+"What again?"
+
+"You wouldn't laugh if you'd seen what I saw" retorted the fat boy, with
+serious face.  "There, right at the entrance of the tent, was a ghost!"
+
+"What kind of a ghost?" asked Dad.
+
+"Just a ghost-ghost.  It was all white and shiny and---br-r-r-r!"
+shivered the boy.  "It grinning.  I could see right through it!"
+
+"You must be an X-ray machine," declared Tad, chuckling.
+
+"It didn't need anything of that sort.  He was so shimmery that you
+could see right through him."
+
+"What became of the spook?  Did he fly up?" asked the guide.
+
+"No, the spook just spooked," replied Stacy.
+
+"How do you mean?" questioned Professor Zepplin.
+
+"He thawed out like a snowball, just melted away when I yelled."
+
+"Very thrilling, very thrilling.  Most remarkable.  A matter for
+scientific investigation," muttered the Professor, but whether he
+were in earnest or not the boys could not gather from his expressionless
+countenance.
+
+"What did Chunky have for supper?" asked Walter.
+
+"What didn't he have?" scoffed the guide.  "We have to eat fast or we
+wouldn't get enough to keep up our strength."
+
+"I guess I don't get any more than my share," retorted Stacy.  "I have
+to work for that, too."
+
+"Well, I'm going to bed," announced Ned Rector.  "You fellows may sit
+up here and tell ghost stories all the rest of the night if you want
+to.  It's me for the feathers."
+
+"You're right, Ned," agreed Tad.  "We are a lot of silly boys to be
+so upset over a fellow who has had a crazy nightmare.  Professor, don't
+you think you ought to give Stacy some medicine?"
+
+"Yes, give him something to make him sleep," chuckled Walter.
+
+The boy was interrupted by a roar from Ned Rector's tent.  Ned was
+shouting angrily.  He burst out into the circle of light shed by
+the camp fire, waving his hands above his head.
+
+"They've got mine, they've got mine!" he yelled, dancing about with
+a very good imitation of the ghost dance so recently executed by the
+fat boy.
+
+"Got what?" demanded Dad sternly, striding forward.
+
+"Somebody's stolen my rifle.  The spook's robbed me.  It's gone and
+all my cartridges and my revolver and-----"
+
+The camp was in an uproar instantly.  Chunky was nodding with
+satisfaction.
+
+"It wasn't stolen.  The spook just spooked it, that's all," he
+declared convincingly.
+
+"But you must be in error, Ned," cried the Professor.
+
+"I'm not.  It's gone.  I left it beside my bed.  It isn't there now.
+I tell you somebody's been in this camp and robbed me!"
+
+A sudden silence settled over the camp.  The boys looked into each
+other's faces questioningly.  Was this another mystery of the Bright
+Angel Gulch?  They could not understand.
+
+"Mebby the kid did see a ghost after all," muttered the guide.
+
+"The kid did.  And I guess the kid ought to know," returned Stacy
+pompously.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+IN THE HOME OF THE HAVASUPAIS
+
+
+An investigation showed that Ned Rector was right in his assertion.
+His rifle had been taken, likewise his revolver and his cartridges.
+It lent color to Stacy's statement that he had seen something, but no
+one believed that that something had been a ghost, unless perhaps the
+guide believed it, for having lived close to Nature so long, he might
+be a superstitious person.
+
+There was little sleep in the camp of the Pony Rider Boys for the rest
+of the night.  They were too fully absorbed in discussing the events
+of the evening and the mysteries that seemed to surround them.  First,
+Stacy had lost his rifle, the captive lion had mysteriously disappeared,
+and now another member of their party had lost his rifle and revolver.
+Dad directed the boys not to move about at all.  He hoped to find a
+trail in the morning, a trail that would give him a clue in case
+prowlers had been in the camp.
+
+A search in the morning failed to develop anything of the sort.  Not
+the slightest trace of a stranger having visited the camp was discovered.
+They gave up---the mystery was too much for them.
+
+That day Nance decided to move on.  Their camp was to remain at the same
+place, but the half breed was directed to sleep by day and to stay on
+guard during the night.  Jim proposed to take his charges into the
+wonderful Cataract Canyon, where they would pay a visit to the village
+of the Havasupai Indians.
+
+This appealed to the Pony Riders.  They had seen no Indians since
+coming to the Grand Canyon.  They did not know that there were Indians
+ranging through that rugged territory, red men who were as familiar
+with the movements of the Pony Rider Boys as were the boys themselves.
+
+They arrived at the Cataract Canyon on the morning of the second day,
+having visited another part of Bright Angel Gulch for a day en route.
+
+At the entrance to the beautiful canyon the guide paused to tell them
+something about it.
+
+"I will tell you," he said, "how the Havasupais came to select this
+canyon for their home.  When the several bands of red men, who
+afterwards became the great tribes of the south-west, left their
+sacred Canyon---mat-aw-we'-dit-ta---by direction of their
+Moses---Ka-that-ka-na'-ve---to find new homes, the Havasupai family
+journeyed eastward on the trail taken by the Navajos and the Hopi.
+One night they camped in this canyon.  Early the next day they took
+up their burdens to continue on their journey.  But as they were
+starting a little papoose began to cry.  The Kohot of the family,
+believing this to be a warning from the Great Spirit, decided to
+remain in the canyon.
+
+"They found this fertile valley, containing about five hundred acres of
+level land.  They called the place Ha-va-sua, meaning 'Blue Water,' and
+after a time they themselves were known, as Havasupai---'Dwellers By the
+Blue water'.  They have been here ever since."
+
+"Most interesting, most interesting," breathed the Professor.  "But how
+comes it that this level stretch of fertile land is found in this rugged,
+rocky canyon, Nance?"
+
+"That's easily answered.  During hundreds of years the river has
+deposited vast quantities of marl at the upper ends of this valley.  Thus
+four great dams have been built up forming barriers across the canyon.
+These dams have quite largely filled up, leaving level stretches of land
+of great richness."
+
+"Do they work the land?" asked Tad.
+
+"In a primitive way, they do, probably following the methods they
+learned from the cliff dwellers, who occupied the crude dwellings you
+have seen all along these walls in the canyons here."
+
+The Cataract Canyon proved to be the most interesting of all that the
+boys had seen for variety and beauty.  The Havasu River, foaming in
+torrents over Supai and Navajos Falls, fifty and seventy-five feet high,
+respectively, they found gliding through a narrow canyon for half a
+mile, in a valley matted with masses of trees, vines and ferns, the
+delicate green of whose foliage contrasted wonderfully with the dead
+gray walls of the deep, dark canyon at that point.
+
+For some three miles below this the Pony Riders followed the
+smoothly-gliding stream through a canyon whose straight up and down
+walls of gray limestone seemed to meet overhead in the blue of the sky.
+Below they seemed to be in the tropics.  During that first day in the
+Cataract they saw another wonder, that of the filmy clouds settling down
+and forming a roof over the Canyon.  It was a marvelous sight before
+which the Pony Rider Boys were lost in wonder.
+
+The Bridal Veil Falls they thought the most beautiful wonder of its
+kind they had ever seen.  Here they saw the crystal waters dashing in
+clouds of spray through masses of ferns, moss and trees, one hundred
+and seventy-five feet perpendicularly into a seething pool below.
+
+Their delight was in the innumerable caves found along the Canyon.  In
+these were to be seen flowers fashioned out of the limestone,
+possessing wonderful colors, scintillating in the light of the torches,
+reds that glowed like points of fire, stalactites that glistened like
+the long, pointed icicles they had seen hanging from the eaves of
+their homes in Chillicothe.  They discovered lace-work in most delicate
+tints, masses and masses of coral and festoons of stone sponges in all
+the caves they visited.  There were little caves leading from larger
+caves, caves within caves, caves below caves, a perfect riot of caves
+and labyrinths all filled with these marvelous specimens of limestone.
+
+"I think I would be content to live here always," breathed Tad after
+they had finished their explorations of the caves and passed on into a
+perfect jungle of tropical growth on their way to Ko-ho-ni-no, the
+canyon home of the Havasupais.
+
+"You'd never be lonesome here," smiled Nance.
+
+"Why don't you live down here, then?" asked Ned.
+
+"Perhaps I don't live so far from here, after all," rejoined the guide.
+
+"Do they have ghosts in this canyon?" asked Chunky apprehensively.
+
+"Full of them!"
+
+"Br-r-r!" shivered the fat boy.
+
+"A wonderful place for scientific research," mused the Professor.
+
+"Why don't you stay in Bright Angel for a while and study ghosts?"
+suggested Stacy.
+
+"I decline to be drawn into so trivial a discussion," answered Professor
+Zepplin severely.
+
+"You wouldn't think it was trivial were you to see one of those things."
+
+"Perhaps the Professor, too, has overloaded his stomach some time before
+going to bed," spoke up Tad Butler.
+
+"You are mistaken, young man.  I never make a glutton of myself," was
+the grim retort.
+
+"Now will you be good, Tad Butler?" chuckled Walter Perkins.
+
+"Yes, I have nothing more to say," answered Tad, with a hearty laugh.
+
+"We are getting down on the level now," the guide informed them.
+
+Halting suddenly, Nance pointed to an overhanging ledge about half a
+mile down the valley.  The boys gazed, shading their eyes, wondering
+what Nance saw.
+
+"I see," said Tad.
+
+"Then you see more than do the rest of us," answered Ned.  "What is it?"
+
+"It looks to me like a man."
+
+"You have good eyes," nodded Nance.
+
+"Is it a---a man?" questioned Chunky.
+
+"Yes, it is an Indian lookout.  He sees us and is trying to decide
+whether or not our mission is a friendly one."
+
+"Indians! Wow!" howled Chunky.
+
+"We are in their home now, so behave yourself," warned Nance.
+
+The Havasu River, which the riders followed, extended right on through
+the village, below which were many scattering homes of the red men, but
+the majority of them lived in the village itself.  Almost the entire
+length of the creek, both in the village and below, the river is
+bordered with cottonwood, mesquite and other green trees, that furnish
+shade for the quaint village nestling in the heart of the great
+Canyon.
+
+The boys followed the water course until finally they were approached
+by half a dozen men---indians---who had come out to meet them.
+
+Nance made a sign.  The Indians halted, gazed, then started forward.
+In the advance was the Kohot or native chief.
+
+"Hello, Tom," greeted the guide.
+
+"How!" said the chief.
+
+"Tom is a funny name for an Indian," observed Chunky.
+
+"His name is Chick-a-pan-a-gi, meaning 'the bat'," answered Jim
+smilingly.
+
+"He looks the part," muttered the fat boy.
+
+"Tom, I've brought some friends of mine down to see you and your folks.
+Have you anything to eat?"
+
+"Plenty eat."
+
+"Good."
+
+"Plenty meala, meula.  Kuku.  No ski," answered the chief, meaning that
+they were stocked with flour, sugar, but no bacon.
+
+"I know that language," confided Stacy to Tad.  "It's Hog Latin."
+
+"Magi back-a-tai-a?" asked the chief.
+
+"Higgety-piggety," muttered Chunky.
+
+"He means, 'have we come from the place of the roaring sound?'"
+translated Nance.
+
+"You bet we have.  Several of them," spoke up Ned.
+
+"Doesn't he speak English?" asked Walter.
+
+"Yes, he will soon.  He likes a confidential chat with me in his own
+language first.  By 'the place of the roaring sound' he means the big
+Canyon.  How is Jennie, Tom?"
+
+"Chi-i-wa him good."
+
+"That's fine.  We'll be moving along now.  We are tired and want to
+rest and make peace with Chick-a-pan-gi and his people," said Nance.
+
+The Kohot bowed, waved a hand to his followers, who turned, marching
+stolidly back toward the village, followed by the chief, then by
+Nance and his party.
+
+"This sounds to me as if it were going to be a chow-chow party,"
+grinned Stacy.
+
+"For goodness' sake, behave yourself.  Don't stir those Indians up.
+They are friendly enough, but Indians are sensitive," advised Tad.
+
+"So am I," replied Chunky.
+
+"You may be sorry that you are if you are not careful.  I shall be
+uneasy all the time for fear you'll put your foot in it," said Tad.
+
+"Just keep your own house in order.  Mine will take care of itself.
+There's the village."
+
+"Surely enough," answered Tad, gazing inquiringly toward the scattered
+shacks or ha-was, as the native houses were called.  These consisted
+of posts set up with a slight slant toward the center, over which was
+laid in several layers the long grass of the canyon.  Ordinarily a
+bright, hued Indian blanket covered the opening.  A tall man could not
+stand upright in a Havasupai ha-wa.  They were merely hovels, but they
+were all sufficient for these people, who lived most of their lives out
+in the open.
+
+The street was full of gaunt, fierce-looking dogs that the boys first
+mistook for coyotes.  The dogs, ill-fed, were surly, making friends
+with no one, making threatening movements toward the newcomers in
+several instances.  One of them seized the leg of Chunky's trousers.
+
+"Call your dog off, Chief Chickadee!" yelled the fat boy.
+
+The Indian merely grunted, whereupon the fat boy laid a hand on the
+butt of his revolver.  A hand gripped his arm at the same time.  The
+hand was Tad Butler's.
+
+"You little idiot, take your hand away from there or I'll put a head
+on you right here!  The dog won't hurt you." Tad was angry.
+
+"No, you've scared him off, now.  Of course he won't bite me, but he
+would have done so if he hadn't caught sight of you."
+
+"I must be good dog medicine then," replied Tad grimly.  "But, never
+mind," he added, with a smile, "just try to behave yourself for a
+change."
+
+About that time Chief Tom was leading out his squaw by an ear.
+
+"White man see Chi-i-wa," grinned the chief.
+
+Chi-i-wa gave them a toothless smile.  She was the most repulsive-looking
+object the boys ever had looked upon.  Chi-i-wa's hair came down to the
+neck, where it had been barbered off square all the way around.  This
+was different from her august husband's.  His hair lay in straight
+strands on his shoulders, while a band of gaudy red cloth, the badge of
+his office, was twisted over The forehead, binding the straight, black
+locks at the back of the head.
+
+The squaw wore baggy trousers bound at the bottom with leggings, while
+over her shoulder was draped a red and white Indian blanket that was
+good to look upon.  The brilliant reds of the blankets all through the
+village lent a touch of color that was very pleasing to the eye.
+
+The chief's son was then brought out to shake hands with the white
+men, while Chi-i-wa squatted down and appeared to lose all interest
+in life.  Dogs and children were by this time gathered about in great
+numbers regarding the new comers with no little curiosity.
+
+The chief's son was introduced to the boys by Nance as "Afraid Of His
+Face."
+
+Stacy surveyed the straight-limbed but ugly faced young buck critically.
+
+"I don't blame him," said the fat boy.
+
+"Don't blame him for what?" snapped Nance.
+
+"For being afraid of his face.  So am I."
+
+The boys snickered, but their faces suddenly sobered at a sharp glance
+from the piercing eyes of the Kohot.
+
+"Mi-ki-u-la," said Afraid Of His Face, pointing to the much-soiled
+trousers of Stacy Brown.
+
+"He likes your trousers, he says," grinned the guide.
+
+"Well, he can't have them, though he certainly does need trousers,"
+decided Stacy reflectively, studying the muscular, half-naked limbs of
+the young buck.  "He couldn't very well appear in polite society in
+that rig, could he, Tad?"
+
+"Not unless he were going in swimming," smiled Tad.
+
+It was at this point that Tad Butler himself came near getting into
+difficulties.  The chief's son, having been ordered in a series of
+explosive guttural sounds to do something, had started away when a
+yellow, wolfish looking cur got in way.  Afraid Of His Face gave the
+dog a vicious kick, then as if acting upon second thought he grabbed
+up the snarling dog, and twisting its front legs over on its back,
+dropped the yelping animal, giving it another kick before it touched
+the ground.
+
+Tad's face went fiery red.  He could not stand idly and witness the
+abuse of an animal.  The lad leaped forward and stood confronting the
+young buck with flaming face.  Tad would have struck the Indian had
+Nance not been on the spot.  With a powerful hand he thrust Tad behind
+him, saying something in the Indian language to Afraid Of His Face,
+which caused the buck to smile faintly and proceed on his mission.
+
+"If you had struck him you never would have gotten out of here alive,"
+whispered the guide.  Stacy had been a witness to the proceeding.  He
+smiled sarcastically when Tad came back to where the fat boy was
+standing.
+
+"Folks who live in glass houses, should not shy rocks," observed the
+fat boy wisely.
+
+By that time the squaws were setting out corn cakes, dried peaches and
+a heap of savory meat that was served on a bark platter.  The meal was
+spread on a bright blanket regardless of the fact that grease from the
+meat was dripping over the beautiful piece of weaving.  The boys thought
+it a pity to see so wonderful a piece of work ruined so uselessly, but
+they made no comment.  Then all sat down, the Indians squatting on
+their haunches, while the white men seated themselves on the ground.
+There were neither knives nor forks.  Fingers were good enough for the
+noble red man.
+
+First, before beginning the meal, the Kohot lighted a great pipe and
+took a single puff.  Then he passed it to Professor Zepplin, who, with
+a sheepish look at the Pony Rider Boys, also took a puff.
+
+Stacy came next.  The chief handed the pipe to the fat boy in person.
+Stacy's face flushed.
+
+"Thank you, but I don't smoke," he said politely.  The lines of the
+chief's face tightened.  It was an insult to refuse to smoke the pipe
+of peace when offered by the Kohot.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+CHUNKY GETS A TURKISH BATH
+
+
+"Put it to your lips.  You don't have to smoke it," whispered Dad.  "It
+won't do to refuse."
+
+Stacy placed the stem to his lips, then, to the amazement of his
+fellows, drew heavily twice, forcing the smoke right down into his
+lungs.
+
+Stacy's face grew fiery red, his cheeks puffed out.  Smoke seemed to
+be coming out all over him.  Ned declared afterwards that Stacy must
+be porous, for the smoke came out of his pockets.  Then all of a
+sudden the fat boy coughed violently, and tumbled over backwards,
+choking, strangling, howling, while the Professor hammered him between
+the shoulders with the flat of his hand.
+
+"You little idiot, why did you draw any of the stuff in?" whispered
+Professor Zepplin.
+
+"Da---Da---Dad to---to---told me to!  Ackerchew!  Oh, wow!"
+
+More choking, more sneezing and more strangling.  The Professor laid
+the boy on the grass a little distance from the table, where not a
+smile had appeared on a single face.  The Indians were grave and
+solemn, the Pony Rider Boys likewise, although almost at the
+explosive point.  The others had merely passed the Pipe of peace
+across their lips and handed it on to the next.  In this manner it had
+gone around the circle.
+
+Then all hands began dipping into the meat with their fingers.  This
+was too much for the red-faced boy lying on the grass.  He sat up,
+uttered a volley of sneezes then unsteadily made his way back to the
+blanket table and sat down in his place.  The Indians paid no
+attention to him, though sly glances were cast in his direction by
+his companions.  For once, Ned Rector was discreet enough not to make
+any remarks.  He knew that any such would call forth unpleasant words
+from Stacy.
+
+The fat boy helped himself liberally to the meat.  He tasted of it
+gingerly at first, then went at it greedily.
+
+"That is the finest beef I ever ate," he said enthusiastically.
+
+"You shouldn't make remarks about the food," whispered Tad.  "They may
+not like it."
+
+"I hope they don't like it.  There'll be all the more left for me."
+
+"I don't mean the food, I mean your remarks about it."
+
+"Oh!"
+
+"How many persons are there in your tribe, chief?" asked the Professor
+politely.
+
+The chief looked at Dad.
+
+"Two hundred and fifty, Professor," the guide made answer for their host.
+"They are a fine lot of Indians, too."
+
+"Including the squaws, two hundred and fifty?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Do they not sit down with us?" asked Professor Zepplin, glancing up
+at Chi-i-wa and some of her sisters, who were standing muffled in their
+blankets, despite the heat of the day, gazing listlessly at the diners.
+
+"Certainly not in the presence of the white man or heads of other
+tribes," answered Jim.
+
+"Say, what is this meat?" whispered Chunky again, helping himself to
+another slice.
+
+"Don't you know what that is?" answered Ned Rector.
+
+"No.  If I did, I shouldn't have asked."
+
+"Why, that's lion meat."
+
+"Li---li---lion meat?" gasped the boy.
+
+"Sure thing."
+
+Stacy appeared to suffer a sudden loss of appetite.  He grew pale about
+the lips, his head whirled dizzily.  Whether it were from the pipe of
+peace or the meat, he never knew.  He did know that he was a sick boy
+almost on the instant.  With a moan he toppled over on his back.
+
+"I'm going to die," moaned the fat boy.  "Carry me off somewhere.  I
+don't want to die here," he begged weakly.
+
+They placed him under the shade of a tree but instead of getting better
+the boy got worse: The Professor was disturbed.
+
+"Put pale-face boy in to-hol-woh," grunted the chief.  "To-hol-woh!"
+he exclaimed sharply.
+
+Three squaws ran to a low structure of branches that were stuck into
+the ground, bent in and secured at the middle until it resembled an
+Esquimo hut in shape.  The frame made by the branches was uncovered,
+but the women quickly threw some brightly colored blankets over the
+frame, the boys watching the proceeding with keen interest.  They
+then hauled some hot rocks from a fire near by, thrusting these under
+the blankets into the enclosure, after which a pail of water also was
+put inside.
+
+"Put fat boy in," commanded the Kohot.  "Take um clothes off."
+
+Chunky demurred feebly at this.  The Professor glanced at Dad inquiringly.
+Dad nodded, grinning from ear to ear.
+
+"It's a sort of Russo-Turkish bath.  It'll do him good.  Wouldn't mind
+one myself right now," said Nance.
+
+"All right, boys, fix him up and get him in."
+
+"Dress him down, you mean," chuckled Ned.
+
+At a word from the chief the squaws stumped listlessly to their ha-was
+and were seen no more for some time.  About this time the Medicine man,
+a tall, angular, eagle-eyed Havasu, appeared on the scene, examining
+the to-hol-woh critically.
+
+"What shall we do with him now?" called Tad, after they had stripped
+off all of Chunky's clothes except his underwear.
+
+"Chuck him in," ordered the guide.
+
+The Pony Rider Boys were filled with unholy glee at the prospect.  They
+picked up the limp form of their companion, Stacy being too sick to
+offer more than faint, feeble protests.  They tumbled him into what
+Ned called "The Hole In The Wall."
+
+By this time the hot stones in the enclosure had raised the temperature
+of the to-hol-woh considerably.  Stacy did not realize how hot it was
+at first, but he was destined to learn more about it a few minutes later.
+
+Now the Medicine Man began to chant weirdly, calling upon the Havasupai
+gods, Hoko-ma-ta and To-cho-pa, which translated by the guide was:
+
+_"Let the heat come and enter within us, reach head, face and lungs,
+Go deep down in stomach, through arms, body, thighs.  Thus shall we be
+purified, made well from all ill, Thus shall we be strengthened to keep
+back all that can harm, For heat alone gives life and force."_
+
+_"Let heat enter our heads, Let heat enter our eyes, Let heat
+enter our ears, Let heat enter our nostrils---"_
+
+Up to this time no sounds had come from the interior of the to-hol-woh.
+But now the fat boy half rolled out, gasping for breath.  Ned, having
+picked up a paddle that lay near this impromptu Turkish bath,
+administered a resounding slap on Stacy's anatomy, while Tad and
+Walter threw him back roughly into the to-hol-woh.
+
+Chunky moaned dismally.
+
+"I'm being burned alive," he groaned.  "They're torturing me to death."
+
+_"Let heat enter the feet, Let heat enter the knees, Let heat enter
+the legs---"_
+
+"Lemme out of here!" yelled the sick boy, thrusting a tousled head
+through between the blankets covering the opening.
+
+They pushed him back.
+
+"It's the paddle for yours, and hard, if you come out before we tell
+you," cried Ned.
+
+"Stay in as long as you can, Stacy.  I am satisfied the treatment will
+benefit you," advised the Professor.
+
+"I'm cooking," wailed Chunky.
+
+"That's what you need.  You've been underdone all your life," jeered
+Rector.
+
+Throughout all of this the Havasus had sat about apparently taking
+no particular interest in the performance.  They had all seen it
+before so many, many times.  But Jim Nance's sides were shaking with
+laughter, and the Pony Rider Boys were dancing about in high glee.
+They did not get such a chance at Stacy Brown every day in the year,
+and were not going to miss a single second of this sort of fun.
+
+"A brave lion tamer ought not to be afraid of a little heat," suggested
+Walt.
+
+"That's so," agreed Ned.
+
+"For heat alone gives life and force," crooned the Medicine Man.
+
+He repeated the words of his chant twice over, naming pretty much every
+member in the body.  It was a long process, but no one save Stacy
+Brown himself wearied of it.
+
+At the conclusion of the second round of the chant, the Medicine Man,
+stooping over, sprinkled water upon the hot stones, reaching in under
+the blankets to do so.
+
+Instantly the to-hol-woh was filled with a cloud of fierce, biting
+steam, that made each breath seem a breath of fire.
+
+The Pony Rider Boys, understanding what this meant to the boy inside,
+unable to restrain themselves longer, gave vent to ear-splitting shouts
+of glee.  Even the Indians turned to gaze at them in mild surprise.
+
+"Take me out!  I'm on fire!" yelled the fat boy lustily.
+
+The Medicine Man thrust half a dozen other hot stones in, then sprinkled
+more water upon them.
+
+"There's one more steaming for Chunky," sang Tad.
+
+"There's one more roast for him," chanted Ned.
+
+"We'll roast him till he's done," added Walter.
+
+The Medicine Man sprinkled on more water.
+
+"Ow, wow!  Yeow, wow-wow!"
+
+Anguished howls burst from the interior of the to-hol-woh.  Then
+something else burst.  The peak of the bath house seemed to rise right
+into the air.  The sides burst out, flinging the blankets in all
+directions.  Then a red-faced boy leaped out, and with a yell, fled
+on hot feet to the silvery Havasu River, where he plunged into a deep
+pool, the water choking down his howls of rage and pain.
+
+The fat boy's Russo-Turkish bath had succeeded beyond the fondest
+expectations of his torturers.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+A MAGICAL CURE
+
+
+Pandemonium reigned in the Havasu village for a few minutes.  The
+Medicine Man had been bowled over in Stacy's projectile-like flight.
+The Medicine Man leaped to his feet, eyes flashing.  Some one pointed
+toward the creek.  The Medicine Man leaped for the river.
+
+Dad spoke sharply to the chief, whereupon the latter fired a volley of
+gutturals at the fleeing Medicine Man, who stopped so suddenly that he
+nearly lost his balance.
+
+"Is the water deep in there?" cried the Professor.
+
+"About ten feet," answered the guide.
+
+"He'll drown!"
+
+"No he won't drown, Professor," called Tad.  "Chunky can swim like a
+fish.  There he is now."
+
+A head popped up from the water, followed by a face almost as red as
+the sandstone rocks on the great cliffs glowing off there in the
+afternoon sun.
+
+"Oh, wow!" bellowed Stacy chokingly, as the waters swallowed him up
+again.  He came up once more and struck out for the bank, up which he
+struggled, then began racing up and down the edge of the stream yelling:
+
+"I'm skinned alive!  I'm flayed, disfigured!  I'm parboiled!  Pour a
+bottle of oil over me.  I tell you I'm-----"
+
+"You're all right.  Stop it!" commanded Tad sharply.
+
+"Sprinkle me with flour the way mother used to do."
+
+Tad walked over and laid a firm hand on the arm of the fat boy.
+
+"You go back there and wipe off, then put on your clothes, or I'll skin
+you in earnest.  I wouldn't be surprised if they'd scalp you if you
+continue to carry on in this way."
+
+"Sea---scalp me?" stammered Stacy.
+
+"Yes.  You surely have done enough to them to make them want to.  Did
+you know you knocked over the Medicine Man?"
+
+"Did I?"
+
+"You did."
+
+Stacy grinned.
+
+"I'm glad of it.  But that isn't a circumstance to what I'd like, to do
+to him if I could do it and get away with it.
+
+"Well, how does it feel to be roasted?" questioned the grinning Ned
+Rector, approaching them at this juncture.
+
+"Who put up this job on me?" demanded Stacy angrily.
+
+"Job?  Why, it wasn't a job.  You were a very sick man.  Your case
+demanded instant treatment---"
+
+"Say, what was that meat we had for dinner, Tad?" asked Chunky suddenly.
+
+"Deer meat."
+
+"Oh, fiddle!  Ned said it was cat meat and I---I got sick.  I'll get
+even with him for that."
+
+"How do you feel?" asked the smiling Professor, coming up and slapping
+the fat boy on the shoulder.
+
+"I---I guess I'm well, but I don't believe I'll be able to sit down or
+lie down all the rest of the summer.  No, don't ask me to put on my
+clothes.  I can't wear them.  My skin's all grown fast to my underwear.
+I'll have to wear these underclothes the rest of the season if I don't
+want to lose my skin.  Oh, I'm in an awful fix."
+
+"But you're well, so what's the odds?" laughed Tad.
+
+"It does brace a fellow up to have that---that---what do you call it?"
+
+"Hole In The Wall bath," nodded Ned.
+
+"That's just the trouble.  There wasn't any hole in the wall to let the
+heat out.  Oh, it was awful.  If you don't think it was, then some of
+you fellows get in there for a roast.  Oh, I'm sore!"
+
+Stacy limped off by himself, then stood leaning against a rock, still
+in his underwear, gazing moodily at the waters of Havasu River.  Stacy
+was much chastened for the time being.
+
+All at once the lad started.  Ned Rector had laid a hand on his shoulder.
+
+"Oh, it's you?"
+
+"Yes.  You aren't angry with me, are you, Chunky?"
+
+"Angry with you?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Did you ever have a sore lip, Ned?"
+
+"Of course I have," laughed Rector.
+
+"When you couldn't have laughed at the funniest story you ever heard?"
+
+"I guess that about describes it."
+
+"Well, I've got a sore lip all over my body.  If I were to be cross with
+you I'd crack the one big, sore lip and then you'd hear me yell,"
+answered the fat boy solemnly.  "No, I'm not angry with you, Ned."
+
+Rector laughed softly.
+
+"I don't want you to be.  I'm always having a lot of fun with you and
+I expect to have a lot more, for you are the biggest little idiot I
+ever saw in my life."
+
+"Yes, I am," agreed Stacy thoughtfully.  "But how can you blame me,
+with the company I keep?"
+
+"I've got nothing more to say, except that if you'll come back to
+what's his name's camp I'll help you put on your clothes.  Come along.
+Don't miss all the fun."
+
+Stacy decided that he would.  By the time he had gotten on his clothes
+he felt better.  He wandered off to another part of the village, where
+his attention was drawn to a game going on between a lot of native
+children who had squatted down on the ground.
+
+Stacy asked what the game was.  They told him it was "Hui-ta-qui-chi-ka,"
+which he translated into "Have-a-chicken."
+
+Most of these children were pupils at a school established by the
+United States government in the Canyon, and could speak a little
+English.  Chunky entered into conversation with them at once, asking
+the names of each, but he never remembered the name of any of them
+afterwards.  There was little Pu-ut, a demure faced savage with a
+string of glass beads around her neck; Somaja, round and plump,
+because of which she got her name, which, translated meant "watermelon."
+Then there was Vesna and many other names not so easy.  Chunky decided
+that he would like to play "Have-a-chicken," too.  The little savages
+were willing, so he took a seat in the semicircle with them.
+
+Before the semicircle was a circle of small stones, with an opening
+at a certain point.  This opening was called, Chunky learned,
+"Yam-si-kyalb-yi-ka," though the fat boy didn't attempt to pronounce
+it after his instructor.  In the centre of the circle was another flat
+stone bearing the musical name of "Taa-bi-chi."
+
+Sides were chosen and the game began.  The first player begins by
+holding three pieces of short stick, black on one side, white on the
+other.  These sticks are called "Toh-be-ya."  The count depends upon
+the way the sticks fall.  For instance, the following combinations will
+give an idea as to how the game is counted:
+
+Three white sides up, 10; three blacks, 5; two blacks and a white up, 3;
+two whites and a black up, 2, and so on in many different combinations.
+
+The reader may think this a tame sort of game, but Chunky didn't find
+it so.  It grew so exciting that the fat boy found himself howling
+louder than any of the savages with whom he was playing.  He was as
+much a savage as any of them, some of whom were of his own age.  Every
+time he made a large point, Stacy would perform a war dance, howling,
+"Have-a-chicken!  Have-a-chicken!"
+
+The chief's son, who also had come into the game without being invited,
+was playing next to Stacy.  Stacy in one of these outbursts trod on the
+bare feet of the young buck.
+
+Afraid Of His Face, adopting the methods of his white brethren, rose
+in his might and smote the fat boy with his fist.  Now, the spot
+where the fist of Afraid Of His Face landed had been parboiled in the
+"Hole In The Wall."  Stacy Brown howled lustily, then he sailed in,
+both fists working like windmills.  The Indian youngsters set up a
+weird chorus of yells and war whoops, while all hands from the chief's
+ha-wa started on a run for the scene.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+STACY AS AN INDIAN FIGHTER
+
+
+In the meantime there was a lively scrimmage going on near the
+"Have-a-chicken" circle.  The stones of the circle had been kicked
+away, the younger savages forming a human ring about the combatants.
+
+Afraid Of His Face was much the superior of the fat boy in physical
+strength, but he knew nothing of the tricks of the boxer.  Therefore
+Stacy had played a tattoo on the face of the Indian before the latter
+woke up to the fact that he was getting the worst of it.
+
+In an unguarded moment the young buck put a smashing blow right on
+Stacy's nose, now extremely sensitive from its near boiling in the
+"Hole In The Wall."
+
+Not being fast enough in the get away, the young buck received on his
+own face some of the blood that spurted from Brown's nose.
+
+"Ow-wow!" wailed Chunky, rendered desperate by the severe pain at this
+tender point.  But his rage made him cooler.  Chunky made a feint.
+As Afraid Of His Face dodged the feint Stacy bumped the young
+Indian's nose.
+
+"Have another," offered Stacy dryly, as his left drove in a blow that
+sent the young Indian to his back on the turf.  Frightened screams came
+from some of the young Indian girls, who gazed dismayed at the human
+whirlwind into which Stacy had been transformed.
+
+"Ugh!" roared Afraid Of His Face, and reached his feet again.  "Ugh!
+Boy heap die!  Plenty soon!"
+
+Again the combatants closed in.  There was a rattling give-and-take.
+
+"Here!  Stop that!" ordered Professor Zepplin, striding forward.  The
+chief and his Indians were coming up also.  The chief caught at one of
+the Professor's waving arms and drew him back.
+
+"Let um fight," grunted the chief.  He next spoke a few guttural words
+of command to his own people, who fell back, giving the combatants
+plenty of room.
+
+"Yes, let 'em have it out!" roared the boys.  "Stacy never will learn
+to behave, but this ought to help."
+
+Stacy, having it all his own way with his fists, now received a kick
+from the buck that nearly ended the fight.
+
+"Wow! That's your style, is it?" groaned Chunky, then he ducked, came
+up and planted a smashing blow on the buck's jaw that sent the latter
+fairly crashing to earth.
+
+That ended the fight.  Afraid Of His Face made a few futile struggles
+to get to his feet, then lay back wearily.  Chunky puffed out his chest
+and strutted back and forth a few times.
+
+"Huh!" grunted Chick-a-pan-a-gi.  "Fat boy heap brave warrior."
+
+"You bet I am.  But it's nothing.  You ought to see me in a real fight."
+
+"Hurrah for Chunky!" shouted Ned Rector.  "Hip, hip, hurrah!"
+
+Professor Zepplin now strode forward, laying a heavy hand on the fat
+boy's shoulder.
+
+"Ouch!" groaned Chunky.  "Don't do that Don't you know I haven't any
+skin on my body?"
+
+"You don't deserve to have any.  Be good enough to explain how this
+trouble arose?"
+
+The chief was asking the same question of the other young savages in
+his own language and they were telling him in a series of guttural
+explosions.
+
+"It was this way, I was playing the game with them when I stepped on
+Elephant Face's foot.  He didn't like it.  I guess he has corns on his
+feet as well as on his face.  He punched me.  I punched him back.  Then
+the show began.  We had a little argument, with the result that you
+already have observed," answered Stacy pompously.
+
+"You needn't get so chesty about it," rebuked Ned.
+
+"Chief," said the Professor, turning to Chick-a-pan-a-gi, "I don't
+know what to say.  I am deeply humiliated that one of our party should
+engage in a fight with---"
+
+"I didn't engage in any fight," protested Stacy.  "It wasn't a fight,
+it was just a little argument."
+
+"Silence!" thundered the Professor.
+
+"I trust you will overlook the action of this boy.  He was very much
+excited and-----"
+
+"Fat boy him not blame.  Fat boy him much brave warrior," grunted the
+chief.  "Afraid Of His Face he go ha-wa.  Stay all day, all night.  Him
+not brave warrior."
+
+The chief accentuated his disgust by prodding his homely son with the
+toe of a moccasin.  Afraid Of his Face got up painfully, felt gingerly
+of his damaged nose, and with a surly grunt limped off toward his own
+ha-wa, there to remain in disgrace until the following day.
+
+"Fat boy come smoke pipe of peace," grunted the chief.
+
+"No, thank you.  No more pieces of pipe for mine.  I've had one
+experience.  That's enough for a life time," answered Stacy.
+
+"Stacy, if I see any more such unseemly conduct I shall send you home
+in disgrace," rebuked the Professor as they walked back to the village.
+
+"The boy wasn't to blame, Professor," interceded Dad.  "The buck pitched
+into him first.  He had to defend himself."
+
+"No, don't be too hard on Chunky," begged Tad.  "You must remember that
+he wasn't quite himself.  First to be boiled alive, then set upon by
+an Indian, I should say, would be quite enough to set anyone off his
+balance."
+
+The Professor nodded.  Perhaps they were right, after all.  So long as
+the chief was not angry, why should he be?  The chief, in his
+unemotional way, seemed pleased with the result of the encounter.
+But Professor Zepplin, of course, could not countenance fighting.
+That was a certainty.  With a stern admonition to Chunky never to
+engage in another row while out with the Pony Rider Boys, the Professor
+agreed to let the matter drop.
+
+The day was well spent by that time, and the party was invited to pass
+the night in the village, which they decided to do.  The chief gave
+the Professor a cordial invitation to share his ha-wa with him, but
+after a sniff at the opening of the hovel Professor Zepplin decided
+that he would much prefer to sleep outside on the ground.  The others
+concluded that they would do the same.  The odors coming from the
+ha-was of the tribe were not at all inviting.
+
+After sitting about the camp fire all the evening, the Pony Rider Boys
+wrapped themselves in their blankets and lay down to sleep under the
+stars with the now gloomy walls of the Canyon towering above them, the
+murmur of the silvery Havasu in their ears.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+CONCLUSION
+
+
+The night was a restful one to most of the party, except as they were
+aroused by the barking of the dogs at frequent intervals, perhaps
+scenting some prowling animal in search of food.
+
+Chunky was awakened by Tad at an early hour.  The fat boy uttered a
+familiar "Oh, wow!" when he sought to get up, then lay back groaning.
+
+"Why, what's the matter?" demanded Butler.
+
+"My skin's shrunk," moaned Stacy.  "It fits me so tight I---I can't
+move."
+
+"His skin's shrunk," chorused the Pony Rider Boys.  "His skin is a
+misfit."
+
+"Take it back and demand a new suit if you don't like it," laughed Ned
+Rector.
+
+"It isn't any laughing matter.  I tell you it's shrunk," protested Stacy.
+
+"All right, it will do you good.  You'll know you've got a skin.  Last
+night you said it was all roasted off from you."
+
+"It was.  This is the new skin, about a billionth of an inch thick,
+and oh-h-h-h," moaned the lad, struggling to his feet.  "I wish you had
+my skin, Ned Rector.  No, I don't, either I---I wish yours were drawn
+as tightly as mine."
+
+"Come on for a run and you will feel better" cried Tad, grasping the
+fat boy by an arm and racing him down to the river and back,
+accompanied by a series of howls from Stacy.  But the limbering-up
+process was a success.  Stacy felt better.  He was able to do full
+justice to the breakfast that was served on the greasy blanket shortly
+afterwards.  For breakfast the white men shared their bacon with the
+chief, which the Indian ate, grunting appreciatively.
+
+Before leaving, the boys bought some of the finer specimens of the
+Indian blankets, which they got remarkably cheap.  They decided to do
+up a bale of these and send them home to their folks when they reached
+a place where there was a railroad.  At present they were a good many
+miles from a railway, with little prospect even of seeing one for a
+matter of several weeks.
+
+After breakfast they bade good-bye to the chief.  Chunky wanted to
+shake hands with Afraid Of His Face, but the chief would not permit
+his young buck to leave the ha-wa.  Chi-i-wa, the chief's wife, bade
+them a grudging good-bye without so much as turning her head, after
+which the party rode away, Chunky uttering dismal groans because the
+saddle hurt him, for the fat boy was still very tender.
+
+"I know what I'll do when I get home," he said.
+
+"So do I," laughed Tad.
+
+"Well, what'll I do, if you know so much about it?"
+
+"Why, you will puff out your chest and strut up and down Main Street
+for the edification of the natives of Chillicothe," answered Tad.
+
+"That's what he'll do, for sure," jeered Ned.  "But we'll be on hand
+to take him down a peg or two.  Don't you forget that, Chunky."
+
+Joking and enjoying themselves to the fullest, these brown-faced,
+hardy young travelers continued on, making camp that night by the
+roaring river, reaching Camp Butler the following forenoon.
+
+Chow, the half breed pack-train man, met them with a long face.  The
+party saw at once that something was wrong.
+
+"What's happened?" snapped Nance.
+
+"The dogs."
+
+"What about them?  Speak up."
+
+"Him dead," announced the half breed stolidly.
+
+"Dead?" cried Dad and the boys in one voice.
+
+"Him dead."
+
+"What caused their death?"
+
+The half breed shook his head.  All he knew was that two mornings before
+he had come in for breakfast, and upon going out again found the dogs
+stretched out on the ground dead.  That there was another mystery
+facing them the boys saw clearly.  Nance examined the carcasses of the
+dead hounds.  His face was dark with anger when he had finished.
+
+"It's my opinion that those hounds were poisoned," he declared.
+
+"Poisoned!" exclaimed the boys.
+
+"Yes.  There's some mysterious work being done around this camp.  I'm
+going to find out who is at the bottom of it; then you'll hear something
+drop that will be louder than a boulder falling off the rim of the
+Grand Canyon."
+
+"This is a most remarkable state of affairs." said the Professor.
+"Surely you do not suspect the man Chow?"
+
+"No, I don't suspect him.  It's someone else.  I had a talk with Chief
+Tom.  He told me some things that set me thinking."
+
+"What was it?" asked Tad.
+
+"I'm not going to say anything about it just now, but I am going to have
+this camp guarded after to-night.  We'll see whether folks can come in
+here and play tag with us in this fashion without answering to
+Jim Nance."
+
+"I'll bet the ghost has been here again," spoke up Stacy.
+
+"Ghost nothing!" exploded Nance.
+
+"That's what you said before, or words to that effect," answered the
+fat boy.  "You found I was right, though.  Yes, sir, there are spirits
+around these diggings.  One of them carried away my gun."
+
+"We will divide the night into watches after this.  I am not going to
+be caught napping again," announced Nance.
+
+That night the guide sat up all night.  Nothing occurred to arouse
+his suspicion.  Next day they went out lion hunting without dogs.
+Nance got a shot at a cat, but missed him.  The next day the Professor
+killed a cub that was hiding in a juniper tree.  It was his first kill
+and put the Professor in high good humor.  He explained all about it
+that night as they sat around the camp fire.  Then the boys made him
+tell the story over again.
+
+Nance took the first watch that night, remaining on duty until three
+in the morning, when he called Tad.  The latter was wide awake on the
+instant, the mark of a good woodsman.  Taking his rifle, he strolled
+out near the mustangs, where he sat down on a rock.  Tad was shivering
+in the chill morning air, but after a time he overcame that.  He grew
+drowsy after a half hour of waiting with nothing doing.
+
+All of a sudden the lad sat up wide awake.  He knew that he had heard
+something.  That something was a stealthy footstep.  The night was
+graying by this time, so that objects might be made out dimly.  Tad
+stood up, swinging his rifle into position for quick use.  For some
+moments he heard nothing further, then out of the bushes crept a
+shadowy figure.
+
+"Chunky's ghost," was the thought that flashed into the mind of the
+young sentry.  "No, I declare, if it isn't an Indian!"
+
+It was an Indian, but the light was too dim to make anything out of
+the intruder.  The Indian was crouched low and as Tad observed was
+treading on his toes, choosing a place for each step with infinite
+care.  The watcher now understood why no moccasin tracks had been
+found about the camp, for he had no doubt that this fellow was the
+one who was responsible for all the mysterious occurrences in camp
+up to that time.
+
+The Pony Rider boy did not move.  He wanted to see what the Indian
+was going to do.  Step by step the red man drew near to the canvas
+covered storage place, where they kept their supplies, arms, ammunition
+and the like.  Into this shack the Indian slipped.  Tad edged closer.
+
+"I wonder what he's after this time?" whispered the lad.  Tad thrilled
+with the thought that it had been left for him to solve the mystery.
+
+His question was answered when, a few moments later, the silent figure
+of the Indian appeared creeping from the opening.  He had something in
+his hands.
+
+"I actually believe the fellow is carrying away our extra rifles,"
+muttered the boy.
+
+That was precisely what the redskin was doing.  After glancing cautiously
+about, he started away in the same careful manner.  Tad could have shot
+the man, but he would not do it, instead, he raised the rifle.
+
+"Halt!" commanded the Pony Rider boy sharply.
+
+For one startled instant the Indian stood poised as if for a spring.
+Then he did spring.  Still gripping the rifles, he leaped across the
+opening and started away on fleet feet.  He was running straight toward
+where the ponies were tethered.
+
+Tad fired a shot over the head of the fleeing man, then started in
+pursuit.  The Indian slashed the tether of Buckey, Stacy Brown's
+mustang, and with a yell to startle the animal, leaped on its back and
+was off.
+
+"That's a game two can play at," gritted the Pony Rider, freeing his
+own pony in the same way and springing to its back.
+
+The shot and the yell had brought the camp out in a twinkling.  No one
+knew what had occurred, but the quick ears of the guide catching the
+pounding hoofs of the running mustangs, he knew that Tad was chasing
+someone.
+
+"Everybody stay here and watch the camp!" he roared, running for his
+own pinto, which he mounted in the same way as had the Indian and Tad
+Butler.
+
+Tad, in getting on Silver Face, had fumbled and dropped his rifle.
+There was no time to stop to recover it if he expected to catch the
+fleeing Indian.  Under ordinary circumstances the boy knew that Silver
+Face was considerably faster than Buckey.  But pursuit was not so easy,
+though the Indian, for the present, could go in but one direction.
+
+The spirited mustang on which Tad Butler was mounted, appearing to
+understand what was expected of him, swept on with the speed of the
+wind.  Small branches cut the face of the Pony Rider like knife-blades
+as he split through a clump of junipers, then tore ahead, fairly
+sailing over logs, boulders and other obstructions.
+
+The Pony Rider boy uttered a series of earsplitting yells.  His object
+was to guide Jim Nance, who, he felt sure, would be not far behind
+him.  The yells brought the guide straight as an arrow.  Tad could
+plainly hear the foot beats of Buckey as the two riders tore down the
+Canyon, each at the imminent risk of his life.
+
+"If he has a loaded gun, I'm a goner," groaned the lad.  "But the
+ones he stole are empty, thank goodness!  There he goes!"
+
+The Indian had made a turn to the left into a smaller canyon.  By
+this time the light was getting stronger.  Tad was able to make out his
+man with more distinctness.  The boy urged his pony forward with short,
+sharp yelps.  The Indian was doing the same, but Tad was gaining on him
+every second.  Now the boy uttered a perfect volley of shouts, hoping
+that Nance would understand when he got to the junction of the smaller
+canyon, that both pursued and pursuer had gone that way.
+
+Nance not only understood, but he could hear Tad's yells up the canyon
+upon arriving at the junction.
+
+"Stop or I'll shoot!" cried the boy.
+
+The Indian turned and looked back.  Then he urged Buckey on faster.
+That one act convinced Tad that the redskin had no loaded rifle, else
+he would have used it at that moment.
+
+With a yell of triumph the boy touched the pony with the rowels of his
+spurs.  Silver Face shot ahead like a projectile.  He was a tough
+little pony, and besides, his mettle was up.  Now Tad gained foot by
+foot.  He was almost up to the Indian, yelling like an Indian himself.
+
+The redskin tried dodging tactics, hoping that Tad would shoot past him.
+Tad did nothing of the sort.  The boy was watching his man with keen
+but glowing eyes.  The call of the wild was strong in Tad Butler at that
+moment.
+
+Suddenly the boy drew alongside.  Utterly regardless of the danger to
+himself, he did a most unexpected thing.  Tad threw himself from his
+own racing pony, landing with crushing force on top of the Indian.
+
+Of course the two men tumbled to the ground like a flash.  Then
+followed a battle, the most desperate in which Tad ever had been
+engaged.  The boy howled lustily and fought like a cornered mountain
+lion.  Of course his strength was as nothing compared with that of the
+Indian.  All Tad could hope to do would be to keep the Indian engaged
+until help arrived.
+
+Help did arrive within two minutes; help in the shape of Jim Nance, who,
+with the thought of his slain hounds rankling in his mind, was little
+better than a savage for the time being.
+
+"Here!" shouted Tad.  "Take him---hustle!"
+
+Then young Butler drew back, for Nance, seeing things red before his
+eyes, was hardly capable of knowing friend from foe.
+
+Whack! bump! buff!
+
+How those big fists descended!
+
+For three or four seconds only did the redskin make any defense.  Then
+he cowered, stolidly, taking a punishment that he could not prevent.
+
+"Don't kill the poor scoundrel, Dad!" yelled Tad, dancing about the pair.
+
+But still Nance continued to hammer the now unresisting Indian.
+
+"Stop it, Dad---stop it!" Tad called sternly.
+
+Then, as nothing else promised to avail, Tad rushed once more into
+the fray.
+
+Dad was weakening from his own enormous expenditure of strength.
+
+"Don't go any farther, Dad," Tad coaxed, catching one of Nance's arm
+and holding on.
+
+"I guess I have about given the fellow what he needed," admitted the
+guide, rising.
+
+As he stood above the Indian, Dad saw that the man did not move.
+
+"I hope you didn't kill him, Dad," Tad went on swiftly.
+
+"Why?" asked Jim Nance curiously.
+
+"I don't like killings," returned Tad briefly.  He bent over the Indian,
+finding that the latter had been only knocked out.
+
+"We'd better take the redskin back to camp, hadn't we?" queried Tad, and
+Jim silently helped.  In camp, the Indian was bound hand and foot.  The
+camp fire was lighted and Tad went to work to resuscitate the red man.
+
+At last the camp's prisoner was revived.
+
+"Now, let's ask him about the thieveries that have been going on,"
+suggested Ned Rector.
+
+"Humph!" grinned Dad.  "If you think you can make an Indian talk when
+he has been caught red-handed, then you try it."
+
+Not a word would the Indian say.  He even refused to look at his
+questioners, but lay on the ground, stolidly indifferent.
+
+"He's a prowling Navajo," explained Nance.  "You may be sure this is
+the fellow, Brown's 'spirit,' behind all our troubles.  He's the chap
+who stole Brown's rifle, who raided this camp, who set the lion free
+and who poisoned my dogs---so they wouldn't give warning."
+
+"But why should he want to turn the lion loose?" Tad wanted to know.
+
+"Because the Navajo Indians hold the mountain lion as sacred.  The
+Navajo believes that his ancestors' spirits have taken refuge in the
+bodies of the mountain lions."
+
+"I believe there must be a strong strain of mountain lion in this
+fellow, by the way he fought me," grimaced Tad.
+
+"What shall we do with this redskin?" Chunky asked.  "Shall we give
+him a big thrashing, or make him run the gauntlet?"
+
+"Neither, I guess," replied Jim Nance, who had cooled down.  "The
+wisest thing will be for us to take him straight to the Indian Agency.
+Uncle Sam pays agents to take care of Indian problems."
+
+It was late that afternoon when the boys and their poisoner arrived
+at the Agency.
+
+"I'll talk to him," said the agent, after he had ordered that the
+Indian be taken to a room inside.
+
+An hour later the agent came out.
+
+"The Navajo confesses to all the things you charge against him,"
+announced the government official.  "I thought I could make him talk.
+The redskin justifies himself by saying that your party made an effort
+to kill Navajo ancestors at wholesale."
+
+"Humph!" grunted Jim Nance.
+
+"What happens to the Navajo?" Walter asked curiously.
+
+"He'll be kept within bounds after this," replied the agent.  "For a
+starter he will be locked up for three months.  Some other Navajos
+were out, but we got them all back except this one.  Going back into
+the Canyon?"
+
+Indeed they were.  Late that afternoon the Pony Rider Boys began their
+journey of one hundred miles to the lower end of the Canyon.
+
+From that latter point they were to go on into still newer fields of
+exploration, in search of new thrills, and were far more certain than
+they realized at that time of experiencing other adventures that should
+put all past happenings in the shade.
+
+For the time being, however, we have gone as far as possible with the
+lads.  We shall next meet them in the following volume of this series,
+which is published under the title, "_The Pony Rider Boys With The
+Texas Rangers; Or, On the Trail of the Border Bandits_."
+
+A rare treat lies just ahead for the reader of this new narrative, in
+which acquaintance will also be made with one of the most famous bodies
+of police in all the world, the Texas Rangers.
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Pony Rider Boys in the Grand Canyon
+by Frank Gee Patchin
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12997 ***
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+
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+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #12997 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12997)
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Pony Rider Boys in the Grand Canyon
+by Frank Gee Patchin
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Pony Rider Boys in the Grand Canyon
+       The Mystery of Bright Angel Gulch
+
+Author: Frank Gee Patchin
+
+Release Date: July 22, 2004 [EBook #12997]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN THE GRAND CANYON ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Jim Ludwig
+
+
+
+
+
+THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE GRAND CANYON
+or
+The Mystery of Bright Angel Gulch
+
+by
+Frank Gee Patchin
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+CHAPTERS
+    I. Westward Ho!
+   II. A View of the Promised Land
+  III. Tenderfeet Show Their Skill
+   IV. A Night in the Crater
+    V. Tad Lend a Helping Hand
+   VI. A Sight that Thrilled
+  VII. On the Rim of Eternity
+ VIII. The City in the Skies
+   IX. Chunky Wants to go Home
+    X. Escape is Wholly Cut Off
+   XI. A Trying time
+  XII. Braving the Roaring Colorado
+ XIII. A Battle Mightily Waged
+  XIV. The Dogs Pick up a Trail
+   XV. The Mystery of the Rifle
+  XVI. A New Way to Hunt Lions
+ XVII. The Whirlwind Ball of Yellow
+XVIII. The Unwilling Guest Departs
+  XIX. The Fat Boy Does a Ghost Dance
+   XX. In the Home of the Havasupais
+  XXI. Chunky Gets a Turkish Bath
+ XXII. A Magical Cure
+XXIII. Stacy as an Indian Fighter
+ XXIV. Conclusion
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+WESTWARD, HO!
+
+
+"Ow, Wow, Wow, Wow! Y-E-O-W!"
+
+Tad Butler, who was industriously chopping wood at the rear of the
+woodshed of his home, finished the tough, knotted stick before looking
+up.
+
+The almost unearthly chorus of yells behind him had not even startled
+the boy or caused him to cease his efforts until he had completed what
+he had set out to do.  This finished, Tad turned a smiling face to the
+three brown-faced young men who were regarding him solemnly.
+
+"Haven't you fellows anything to do?" demanded Tad.
+
+"Yes, but we have graduated from the woodpile," replied Ned Rector.
+
+"I got my diploma the first time I ever tried it," added Chunky Brown,
+otherwise and more properly known as Stacy Brown.  "Cut a slice of my
+big toe off.  They gave me my diploma right away.  You fellows are too
+slow."
+
+"Come in the house, won't you?  Mother'll be glad to see you," urged Tad.
+
+"Surely we will," agreed Walter Perkins.  "That's what we came over
+to do."
+
+"Oh, it is, eh?"
+
+"Didn't think we came over to help you chop wood, did you?" demanded
+Chunky indignantly.
+
+"Knowing you as I do, I hadn't any such idea," laughed Tad.  "But
+come in."
+
+The boys filed in through the wood house, reaching the sitting room by
+way of the kitchen.  Tad's mother gave them a smiling welcome, rising
+to extend a warm, friendly hand to each.
+
+"Sit down, Mrs. Butler," urged Walter.
+
+"Yes, we will come to you," added Ned.
+
+"We haven't lost the use of our legs yet, Mrs. Butler," declared the
+fat Chunky, growing very red in the face as he noted the disapproving
+glances directed at him by his companions.
+
+"I hope you won't mind Chunky, Mrs. Butler," said Ned apologetically.
+"You know he has lived among savages lately, and-----"
+
+"Yes, ma'am, Ned and I have been constant companions for---how long
+has it been, boys?"
+
+"Shut up!" hissed Ned Rector in the fat boy's ear.  "I'll whale you when
+we get outside, if you make any more such breaks."
+
+"Never mind, boys; Stacy and myself are very old, old friends," laughed
+Mrs. Butler.
+
+"Yes, ma'am, about a hundred years old, more or less.  Oh, I beg your
+pardon.  I didn't mean it just that way," stammered Chunky, coloring
+again and fumbling his cap awkwardly.
+
+"Now you have said it," groaned Walter.
+
+"Go way back in the corner out of sight and sit down before I start
+something," commanded Ned.  "You must excuse us, Mrs. Butler.  It is
+as Chunky has said.  We are all savages---some of us more so than
+others, some less."
+
+"It is unnecessary to make apologies.  You are just a lot of healthy
+young men, full of life and spirits." Mrs. Butler patted Tad
+affectionately on the head.  "Tad knows what I think of you all and
+how appreciative we both are over what Mr. Perkins has done for us.
+Now that I have had a little money left me, I am glad that Tad is able
+to spend more time with you in the open.  I presume you will soon be
+thinking of another trip."
+
+"We're always thinking of that, Mrs. Butler," interrupted Ned.  "And
+we couldn't think of a trip without thinking of Tad.  A trip without
+Tad would be like---like-----"
+
+"A dog's tail wagging down the street without the dog," interjected the
+solemn voice of Chunky Brown from his new headquarters.
+
+"I move we throw Chunky out in the wood house," exploded Ned.  "Will
+you excuse us while we get rid of the encumbrance, Mrs. Butler?"
+
+"Sit down and make your peace.  I know you boys have some things to
+talk over.  I can see it in your faces.  Go on with your conference.
+I'll bring you some lemonade in a few moments," said Mrs. Butler, as
+she left the room.
+
+"Well, fellows, is this just a friendly call or have you really
+something in mind?" asked Tad after all had seated themselves.
+
+"I'm the only one with a mind that will hold anything.  And I've got
+plenty in it, too," piped Chunky.
+
+Ned Rector sighed helplessly.  The other boys grinned, passing hands
+across their faces that Stacy might not observe their amusement.
+
+"We want to pow-wow with you," said Walter.
+
+"That means you've something ahead---another trip?"
+
+"Yes, we're going to the-----" began young Brown.
+
+"Silence! Children should be seen, but not heard," commanded Ned.
+
+Chunky promptly hitched his chair out, joining the circle.
+
+"I'm seen," he nodded, with a grimace.
+
+"Then see that you're not heard.  Some things not even a Pony Rider boy
+can stand.  You're one of them."
+
+"Yes, I'm a Pony Rider," answered Chunky, misapplying Ned Rector's
+withering remark.
+
+"Another trip, eh?"
+
+"That's it, Tad.  Walt's father has planned it out for us.  And what
+do you think?"
+
+"Yes, what d'ye think?  He's going-----"
+
+"Look here, Chunky, are you telling this or am I?" demanded Ned angrily.
+
+"You're trying to, but you're making an awful mess of the whole business.
+Better let me tell it.  I know how and you don't."
+
+"Give Ned a chance, can't you, Chunky?" rebuked Tad, frowning.
+
+"All right, I'll give him a chance, of course, if you say so.  I always
+have to take a back seat for everybody.  I'm nothing but just a
+roly-poly fat boy, handy to draw water, pitch and strike camp, gather
+firewood, wash the dishes, cook the meals, save the lives of my
+companions when they get into scrapes, and-----"
+
+This was too much for the gravity of the Pony Rider Boys.  They burst
+out into a hearty laugh, which served to put all in good humor again.
+Chunky, having relieved his mind, now settled down in his chair to
+listen.
+
+"Now, Ned, proceed," said Tad.
+
+"Well, Mr. Perkins thinks it would be fine for us to visit the Grand
+Canyon."
+
+"Of the Colorado?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Tad knows more'n the rest of you.  You didn't know where the place was.
+Walt thought it was some kind of a gun that they shot off at sunrise,
+or-----"
+
+No one gave any heed to Chunky's further interruption this time.
+
+"The Grand Canyon of the Colorado?" repeated Tad, his eyes sparkling.
+"Isn't that fine?  Do you know, I have always wanted to go there, but
+I hardly thought we should get that far away from home again.  But what
+plans has Mr. Perkins made?"
+
+"Well, he has been writing to arrange for guides and so forth.  He knows
+a good man at Flagstaff with whom Mr. Perkins hunted a few years ago.
+What did he say the name was, Walt?"
+
+"Nance.  Jim Nance, one of the best men in that part of the country.
+Everybody knows Jim Nance."
+
+"I don't," declared Chunky, suddenly coming to life again.
+
+"There are a lot of other things you don't know," retorted Ned Rector
+witheringly.
+
+"If there are you can't teach them to me," returned Stacy promptly.
+
+"As I was saying when _that_ interrupted me, Mr. Perkins wrote to this
+man, Nance, and engaged him for June first, to remain with us as long
+as we require his services."
+
+"Does Mr. Perkins think we had better take our ponies with us?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then we shall have to buy others.  I hardly think I can afford that
+outlay," said Tad, with a shake of the head.
+
+"That is all arranged, Tad," interrupted Walter.  "Father has directed
+Mr. Nance to get five good horses or ponies."
+
+"Then Professor Zepplin is to accompany us?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Poor Professor!  His troubles certainly are not over yet," laughed Tad.
+"We must try not to annoy him so much this trip.  We are older now and
+ought to use better judgment."
+
+"That's what I've been telling Ned," spoke up Stacy.  "He's old enough
+to-----"
+
+"To---what?" demanded Ned.
+
+Chunky quailed under the threatening gaze of Ned Rector.  He mumbled
+some unintelligible words, settled back in his chair and made himself
+as inconspicuous as possible.
+
+"Pooh! Professor Zepplin enjoys our pranks as much as do we ourselves.
+He just makes believe that he doesn't.  He's a boy himself."
+
+"But an overgrown one," muttered Stacy under his breath.
+
+"Where do we meet the Professor?" asked Tad.
+
+"How about it, Walt?" asked Ned, turning to young Perkins.
+
+"I don't think father mentioned that."
+
+"We shall probably pick him up on the way out," nodded Tad.
+
+"Well, what do you think of it?" demanded Ned.
+
+"Fine, fine!"
+
+"You don't seem very enthusiastic about it."
+
+"Don't I?  Well, I am.  Has Mr. Perkins decided when we are to start?"
+
+"Yes, in about two weeks."
+
+"I don't know.  I am afraid that is too soon for me.  I don't even know
+that I shall be able to go," said Tad Butler.
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Well, we may not be able to afford it."
+
+"Pshaw! Your mother just said you might go, or words to that effect.
+Of course you'll go.  If you didn't, I wouldn't go, and my father would
+be disappointed.  He knows what these trips have done for me.  Remember
+what a tender plant I was when we went out in the Rockies that time?"
+
+"Ye---yes," piped Stacy.  "He was a pale lily of the valley.  Now Walt's
+a regular daisy."
+
+Young Perkins laughed good-naturedly.  He was not easily irritated now,
+whereas, before beginning to live in the open, the least little
+annoyance would set his nerves on edge.
+
+Mrs. Butler came in at this juncture, carrying a pitcher of lemonade
+and four glasses on a tray.  The Pony Riders rose instinctively,
+standing while Mrs. Butler poured the lemonade.
+
+"Oh, I forgot the cookies, didn't I?" she cried.
+
+"Yes, we couldn't get along without the cookies," nodded Chunky.
+
+"Now don't let your eyes get bigger'n your stomach," warned Ned.
+"Remember, we are in polite society now."
+
+"I hope you won't forget yourself either," retorted Stacy.  "I'll
+stand beside you.  If you start to make a break I'll tread on your
+toes and-----"
+
+"Try it!" hissed Ned Rector in the fat boy's ear.  The entrance of
+Mrs. Butler with a plate heaped with ginger cookies drove all other
+thoughts from the minds of the boys.  "Mrs. Butler," began Ned,
+clearing his throat, "we---we thank you; from the bottom of our
+hearts we thank you---don't we, Stacy?"
+
+"Well, I---I guess so.  I can tell better after I've tried the cookies.
+I know the lemonade's all right."
+
+"How do you know?" demanded three voices at once.
+
+"Why, I tasted of it," admitted Chunky.
+
+"As I was saying, Mrs. Butler, we-----"
+
+"Never mind thanking me, Ned.  I will take your appreciation for
+granted."
+
+"Thank you," answered Stacy, looking longingly at the plate of cookies.
+
+"Now help yourselves.  Don't wait, boys," urged Tad's mother, giving
+the boys a friendly smile before turning to leave the room.
+
+"Ah, Mrs. Butler.  One moment, please," said Ned.
+
+"Yes.  What is it?"
+
+"We---ah-----"
+
+"Oh, let me say it.  You don't know how to talk in public," exclaimed
+Chunky.  "Mrs. Butler, we, the Pony Rider Boys, rough riders, Indian
+fighters and general, all-around stars of both plain and mountain, are
+thinking-----"
+
+Ned thrust Chunky gently aside.  Had it not been for Mrs. Butler's
+presence Ned undoubtedly would have used more force.
+
+Tad sat down grinning broadly.  He knew that his mother enjoyed this
+good-natured badinage fully as much as the boys did.
+
+Ned rapped on the table with his knuckles.
+
+"Order, please, gentlemen!"
+
+"That's I," chuckled Stacy, slipping into a chair.
+
+"Laying all trimmings aside, Mrs. Butler, we have come to speak with
+you first, after which we'll have something to say to your son."
+
+Mrs. Butler sat down in the chair that Tad had placed for her.
+
+"Very good.  I shall be glad to hear what you have to say, Ned."
+
+"The fact is---as I was about to say when interrupted by the
+irresponsible person at my left-----"
+
+"I beg pardon.  _I'm_ at your left," remarked Walter.
+
+"He doesn't know which is his left and which is his right," jeered
+Chunky.  "He's usually left, though."
+
+"I refer to the person who was sitting at my left at the time I began
+speaking.  I had no intention of casting any aspersion on Mr. Walter
+Perkins.  As I was about to say, we are planning another trip, Mrs.
+Butler."
+
+"Where away this time, Ned?"
+
+"To the Grand Canyon-----"
+
+"With the accent on the _yon_," added Stacy.
+
+"The Grand Canyon of the Colorado?"
+
+"Yes, ma'am.  Mr. Perkins has arranged it for us.  Everything is fixed.
+Professor Zepplin is going along and-----"
+
+"That will be fine, indeed," glowed Tad's mother.
+
+"Yes, we think so, and we're glad to know that you do.  Tad didn't know
+whether you would approve of the proposed trip or not.  We
+are---ahem---delighted to learn that you do approve of it and that you
+are willing that Tad should go."
+
+"Oh, but I haven't said so," laughed Mrs. Butler.
+
+"Of course she hasn't.  You see how little one can depend upon what Ned
+Rector says," interjected Stacy.
+
+Ned gave him a warning look.
+
+"I should say that you approve of his going.  Of course we couldn't
+think of taking this trip without Tad.  I don't believe Mr. Perkins
+would let Walt go if Tad weren't along.  You see, Tad's a handy man
+to have around.  I know Chunky's people never would trust him to go
+without Tad to look after him.  You see, Chunky's such an irresponsible
+mortal-----"
+
+"Oh, I don't know," interrupted the fat boy.
+
+"One never knows what he's going to do next.  He needs some one to
+watch him constantly.  We think it is the fault of his bringing up."
+
+"Or the company I've been keeping," finished Chunky.
+
+"At any rate, we need Tad with us."
+
+"Then I shall have to say 'yes,'" replied Mrs. Butler, nodding and
+smiling.  "Of course Tad may go.  I am glad, indeed, that he has such
+splendid opportunities."
+
+"But, mother, I ought to be at work," protested Tad.  "It is time I
+were doing something.  Besides, I think you need me at home."
+
+"Never mind, Tad.  When you have finished with these trips you will
+be all the better for them.  You will have erected a foundation of
+health that will last you all your life.  Furthermore, you will have
+gained many things by the experience, When you get at the real serious
+purpose of your life, you will accomplish what you set yourself to do,
+with better results."
+
+"That---that's what I say," began Chunky.  "Haven't I always told
+you-----"
+
+"Stacy is wise beyond his years," smiled Mrs. Butler.  "When he is
+grown up I look for him to be a very clever young man."
+
+The eyes of the boys still twinkled merrily, for Chunky, unable to
+guess whether he were being teased, was still scowling somewhat.
+However, he kept still for the time being.
+
+"Yes, Tad may go with you," continued Mrs. Butler.  "You start---when?"
+
+"In about two weeks," Walter replied.  "Father said he would call to
+discuss the matter with you."
+
+"I shall be glad of that," nodded Mrs. Butler.  "I shall want to talk
+over the business part of the trip."
+
+Then the youngsters fell to discussing the articles of outfit they
+would need.  On this head their past experience stood them in good
+stead.
+
+"Now, I presume, I have said all that I can say," added Mrs. Butler,
+rising.  "I will leave you, for I would be of very little use to you
+in choosing clothing and equipment."
+
+Before she could escape from the room, however, Tad had risen and
+reached her.  Without exhibiting a twinge of embarrassment before the
+other young men, Tad held and kissed her, then escorted her to the
+door.  Walter and Ned smiled their approval.  Chunky said nothing,
+but sat blinking solemnly---the best possible proof of his approbation.
+
+All of the readers of this series know these young men well.  They
+were first introduced to Tad and his chums in the opening volume,
+"_The Pony Rider Boys In The Rockies_."  Then were told all the details
+of how the boys became Pony Riders, and of the way they put their
+plans through successfully.  Readers of that volume well recall the
+exciting experiences and hair-breadth escapes of the youngsters, their
+hunts for big game and all the joys of living close to Nature.  Their
+battle with the claim jumpers is still fresh in the minds of all readers.
+
+We next met our young friends in the second volume, "_The Pony Rider
+Boys In Texas_."  It was on these south-western grazing plains that
+the lads took part in a big cattle drive across the state.  This new
+taste of cowboy life furnished the boys with more excitement than they
+had ever dreamed could be crowded into so few weeks.  It proved to be
+one long round of joyous life in the saddle, yet it was the sort of
+joy that is bound up in hard work.  Tad's great work in saving a large
+part of the herd will still be fresh in the mind of the reader.  How
+the lads won the liking of even the roughest cowboys was also
+stirringly told.
+
+From Texas, as our readers know, the Pony Riders went north, and their
+next doings are interestingly chronicled in "_The Pony Rider Boys In
+Montana_."  Here the boys had the great experience of going over the
+old Custer trail, and here it was that Tad and his companions became
+involved in a "war" between the sheep and the cattle men.  How Tad and
+his chums soon found themselves almost in the position of the grist
+between the millstones will be instantly recalled.  Tad's adventures
+with the Blackfeet Indians formed not the least interesting portion of
+the story.  It was a rare picture of ranch and Indian life of the
+present day that our readers found in the third volume of this series.
+
+Perhaps the strangest experiences, as most of our readers will agree,
+were those described in "_The Pony Rider Boys In The Ozarks_."  In this
+wild part of the country the Pony Rider Boys had a medley of
+adventures---they met with robbers, were lost in the great mountain
+forests, and unexpectedly became involved in an accident in a great
+mine.  The final discovery of the strange secret of the mountains was
+the climax of that wonderful saddle journey.
+
+From the wooded Ozarks to the stifling alkali deserts of Nevada was
+a long jump, but the lads made it.  All of our readers remember the
+rousing description of adventures that were set forth in "_The Pony
+Rider Boys In The Alkali_."  This trip through the grim desert with
+its scanty vegetation and scarcity of water proved to be a journey
+that fully demonstrated the enduring qualities of these sturdy young
+men.  The life, far away from all connection with civilization, was
+one of constant privation and well-nigh innumerable perils.  The
+meeting with the crazed hermit of this wild waste formed one of the
+most thrilling incidents.  The whole vast alkali plain presented a
+maze the solving of which taxed to the utmost the ingenuity of the
+young men.  However, they bore themselves with credit, and came out
+with a greater reputation than ever for judgment, courage and
+endurance.
+
+Our next meeting with these lads, who were fast becoming veterans of
+the saddle, was in the sixth volume, "_The Pony Rider Boys in New
+Mexico_."  Here, again, the lads ran upon Indian "signs" and
+experiences, not the least of which was their chance to be present at
+the weird fire dance of the Apaches.  The race with the prairie fire,
+the wonderful discoveries made in the former homes of the cave-dwellers,
+and the defence of the lost treasure in the home of the ancient Pueblo
+Indians are all matters well remembered by our readers.
+
+Now another journey, to the scene of one of Nature's greatest wonders,
+the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, was absorbing the thought of Tad
+Butler and his young friends.
+
+"The question is, what'll we take with us?" asked Ned Rector.
+
+"Yes, that's one of the things about which we wanted to talk with you,"
+spoke up Walter Perkins.  "You always think of things that none of the
+rest of us remembers."
+
+"Oh, I don't know.  You're all pretty good planners.  In the first place,
+you know you want to travel light."
+
+"We aren't likely to travel any other way," scoffed Chunky.  "Whatever
+we do, though, let's not travel light on food.  I can stand almost
+anything but food---I mean without food---I mean-----"
+
+"I don't believe you know what you do mean," jeered Ned.  "Well, what
+about it, Tad?"
+
+"As I was saying, we should travel light.  Of course, we must take our
+own equipment---saddles, quirts, spurs, chaps, lasso, guns, canteen,
+slicker and all that sort of thing.  I suppose the guide will arrange
+for the pack train equipment."
+
+"I'll speak to father about that," said Walter.  "I don't know just what
+arrangements he has made with the guide."
+
+"We can no doubt get what ammunition we need after we get to Flagstaff,
+if that is to be our railway destination.  Folks usually have ammunition
+in that country," added Tad, with a faint smile.  "Our uniforms or
+clothes we know about.  We shall no doubt need some good tough boots for
+mountain climbing-----"
+
+"Do we have to climb mountains?" demanded Stacy.
+
+"Climb up and fall down," answered Walt.
+
+"Oh, dear me, dear me!  It'll be the death of me, I know," wailed the
+fat boy.  "I'd rather ride---up.  I can get down all right, but-----"
+
+"Yes, you certainly can get down," laughed Ned.
+
+"Then we shall want quite a lot of soft, strong rope, about quarter-inch
+Manila.  I don't think of anything else.  We ought to be able to pick up
+whatever else we need after we get out there------"
+
+"I guess that's all, fellows, isn't it?" asked Ned.
+
+"All but the shouting," answered Stacy.
+
+"You are well able to do that.  You'd better practise up on those
+favorite exclamations of yours---"
+
+"What are they?"
+
+"Y-e-o-w and W-o-w!"
+
+"Who-o-o-p-e-e!" answered Chunky in a shrill, high-pitched voice.
+
+Ned Rector clapped a hand over the fat boy's mouth with a resounding
+smack.  Chunky was jerked backward, his head striking the chair with a
+bump that was audible all over the room.
+
+"You stop that business.  Do you forget where you are?  That's all
+right out in the wilds, but not in civilized society," declared Ned.
+
+"Whe---where's the civilized society?  Don't you do that to me again,
+or I'll-----"
+
+"Chunky's all right.  Let him alone, Ned.  Mother doesn't care how
+much noise we make in here.  In fact, she'd think something was wrong
+with us if we didn't make a big racket.  Chunky, if you are so full
+of steam you might go out and finish the woodpile for me.  I've got
+to cut that wood this afternoon."
+
+"No, thank you.  I'm willing to hunt for the colored man in the
+woodpile, but I'm a goat if I'll chop the wood.  Why, I'd lose my
+reputation in Chillicothe if I were seen doing such a common thing
+as that."
+
+"No, that would be impossible," answered Ned sarcastically.
+
+"Eh?  Impossible?" questioned Stacy.
+
+"Oh, yes, yes, yes.  I'll write it down for you so you'll understand
+it and-----"
+
+"He means that you can't lose what you don't possess," explained Walter.
+
+Chunky grunted his disgust, but made no reply.  The boys then fell to
+discussing the proposed trip.  Tad got out his atlas and together they
+pored over the map of Arizona.  After some time at this task, Chunky
+pulled a much soiled railway map from his pocket.  This gave them a
+more detailed plan of the Grand Canyon.
+
+"You see, I have to show you.  When it comes to doing things Stacy
+Brown's the one on whom you all have to fall back."
+
+"You are almost human at times, Stacy.  I'm free to admit that,"
+laughed Tad.  "Yes, this is just what we want."
+
+Chunky inflated his chest, and, with hands clasped behind his back,
+walked to the window and gazed out into the street, nodding patronizingly
+now and then to persons passing who had bowed to him.  In his own
+estimation, Stacy was the most important person in Chillcothe.
+So confident was he of this that several persons in the community
+had come almost to believe it themselves.  Chunky, by his dignified
+and important bearing, had hopes of converting others to this same
+belief.  As for his three companions---well, a journey without Stacy
+Brown would be a tame and uneventful journey at best.
+
+The greater part of the afternoon was devoted to making plans for the
+coming trip, each having his suggestions to make or his criticism to
+offer of the suggestions of others.  Though the arguments of the Pony
+Riders at times became quite heated, the friendship they held for each
+other was never really strained.  They were bound together by ties
+that would endure for many years to come.
+
+Each day thereafter, during their stay at home, they met for
+consultation, and when two weeks later they had assembled at the
+railroad station in Chillicothe, clad in their khaki suits, sombreros,
+each with a red bandanna handkerchief tied carelessly about his neck,
+they presented an imposing appearance and were the centre of a great
+crowd of admiring boys and smiling grown-ups.  There were many exciting
+experiences ahead of the Pony Rider Boys as well as a series of
+journeys that would linger in memory the rest of their lives.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+A VIEW OF THE PROMISED LAND
+
+
+For nearly three days the Pony Rider Boys had been taking their ease
+in a Pullman sleeping car, making great inroads on the food served in
+the dining car.
+
+It had been a happy journey.  The boys were full of anticipation of
+what was before them.  At intervals during the day they would study
+their maps and enter into long discussions with Professor Zepplin,
+the grizzled, stern-looking man who in so many other journeys had
+been their guardian and faithful companion.  The Professor had joined
+them at St. Louis, where the real journey had commenced.
+
+All that day they had been racing over baked deserts, a cloud of dust
+sifting into the car and making life miserable for the more tender
+passengers, though the hardy Pony Riders gave no heed to such trivial
+discomforts as heat and dust.  They were used to that sort of thing.
+Furthermore, they expected, ere many more days had passed, to be treated
+to discomforts that were real.
+
+Suddenly the train dashed from the baked desert into a green forest.
+The temperature seemed to drop several degrees in an instant.  Everyone
+drew a long breath, faces were pressed against windows and expressions
+of delight were heard in many parts of the sleeper.
+
+They had entered a forest of tall pines, so tall that the lads were
+obliged to crane their necks to see the tops.
+
+"This is the beginning of the beginning," announced Professor Zepplin
+somewhat enigmatically.  "This is the forest primeval."
+
+"I don't know," replied Chunky, peering through a car window.  "It
+strikes me that we've left the evil behind and got into the real thing."
+
+"What is it, Professor?" asked Tad Butler.
+
+"As I have said, it is a primeval forest.  This great woodland stretches
+away from the very base of the San Francisco mountains southward for a
+distance of nearly two hundred miles.  We are taking a short cut through
+it and should reach Flagstaff in about an hour from now."
+
+"Hurrah!  We're going to see the Flagstaff in an hour," cried Stacy,
+his face wreathed in smiles.
+
+"A further fact, which is no doubt unknown to you, is that this enormous
+forest covers an area of over ten thousand square miles, and contains
+six million, four hundred thousand acres."
+
+The boys uttered exclamations of amazement and wonder.
+
+"If you'd said ten acres, I'd understand you better," replied Stacy.
+"I never could think in such big figures.  I'm like a rich fellow in
+our town, who doesn't know what money is above a certain sum."
+
+"Well, what about it?" demanded Tad.
+
+"Up to fifty dollars, he knows how much it is, but for anything above
+that it's a check," finished Chunky, looking about him expectantly.
+
+No one laughed.
+
+"Speaking of checks," said Ned Rector after an interval of silence, "did
+you bring along that snaffle bit, Tad?"
+
+"What snaffle bit?"
+
+"The one we were going to put on Stacy Brown to hold him in check?"
+
+A series of groans greeted Ned's words.  Chunky grumbled something about
+making a checker board of Ned's face if he didn't watch out, after
+which the Professor turned the rising tide into other and safer
+channels by continuing his lecture on the great Arizona forest.
+
+As the train dashed on the Pony Riders were greeted with occasional
+views of a mountain differing from anything they ever had seen.  One
+peak especially attracted their attention.  Its blackened sides, and
+its summit bathed in a warm glow of yellow sunshine, gave it a most
+striking appearance.
+
+"What is it, Professor?" asked Tad, with an inquiring gaze and nod
+toward the mountain.
+
+"Sunset Mountain," answered Professor Zepplin.  "You should have
+discovered that."
+
+"But it isn't sunset," objected Walter.
+
+"It is always sunset there.  The effect is always a sunset effect."
+
+"In the night, too!" questioned Chunky.
+
+"No, it's moonset then," scoffed Rector.
+
+"In the same direction you will observe the others of the San Francisco
+mountains.  However, we shall have more of this later on.  For the
+present you would do well to gather up Your belongings, for we shall
+be at our journey's end in a few minutes."
+
+This announcement caused the boys to spring up, reaching to the racks
+above for such of their luggage as had been stowed there.  All was
+bustle for the next twenty minutes.  Then the train drew into the
+station, the cars covered with the dust of the desert, changing the
+dark brown of their paint to a dirty gray.
+
+The boys found that they had arrived at a typical western town, a
+tree-surrounded, mountain-shadowed, breeze-blown place set like a gem
+in a frame of green and gold, nestling, it seemed, at the very base
+of the towering peaks of the San Francisco mountains, whose three
+rough volcanic peaks stood silent sentinel over the little community
+clustered at their base.
+
+The railroad track lined one side of the main street, while business
+blocks and public houses were ranged on the opposite side.  Here the
+garb of the Pony Riders failed to attract the same attention that it
+had done further east.  There were many others on the station platform
+whose clothes and general get-up were similar to those of the boys.
+
+But as they descended from the sleeping car, their arms full of their
+belongings, each carrying a rifle in a case, they caught sight of a
+man who instantly claimed their attention.  He was fully sixty years
+old, standing straight as a tree and wearing a soft black felt hat,
+a white shirt and a wing collar.  From his chin, extend almost back
+to the ears, there stood a growth of white bristling whiskers.  As he
+tilted his head backward in an apparent effort to stand still more
+erect, the whiskers stood out almost at right angles, giving him a
+most ferocious appearance.
+
+Tad felt a tug at his sleeve.  He turned to find the big eyes of Chunky
+Brown gazing up into his face.
+
+"Is that the Wild Man of the Canyon?" whispered Stacy.
+
+"I don't know.  He looks as if he might be a Senator, or-----"
+
+"Any of you boys know where we can find Jim Nance?" interrupted the
+Professor.
+
+"I reckon we do," drawled a cowboy.
+
+"Well?" urged the Professor somewhat irritably.
+
+"Wal?" answered the cowboy.
+
+"Will you please tell us where we may find him, pardner?" spoke up Tad,
+observing how the land lay and wishing to head off friction.
+
+"I reckon that's him," answered the cowboy, pointing to the straight,
+athletic figure of the old man.
+
+Tad grinned at Chunky.
+
+"That's our guide, Bub."
+
+"He looks fierce enough to be a man eater."
+
+"I'm afraid of him," whispered Stacy.  "He's mysterious looking, too;
+like the Canyon."
+
+Professor Zepplin strode up to the old man.
+
+"Mr. Nance, I believe."
+
+"Y-a-a-s," drawled the old man.
+
+The Professor introduced himself, then one by one called the boys up
+and presented them, the old man gazing keenly with twinkling, searching
+eyes into the face of each one presented to him.  Chunky said "ouch"
+when Nance squeezed his hand, then backed off.
+
+"This is Mr. Nance, the gentleman who is to be our guide," announced
+Professor Zepplin.
+
+"We're all glad to see you, Mr. Nance," chorused the Pony Riders.
+
+"Ain't all tenderfeet, eh?" quizzed the guide.
+
+"No, not exactly.  They have been out for some time.  They are pretty
+well used to roughing it," declared the Professor.
+
+"Good idea.  They'll think they haven't before they get through with
+the old Grand."
+
+"How about our ponies?" asked Tad.  "Have you engaged them?"
+
+"You pick 'em out.  I'll take yon to corral after you've had your
+dinner."
+
+All hands walked across the street to a hotel, where they sat down to
+the first satisfying meal they had eaten since leaving home.
+
+"This beats the spirit meals we've been having on board the train,"
+announced Stacy, his eyes roving longingly over the heaped up dishes.
+
+"Don't lick your chops," cautioned Ned.  "There are some polite folks
+here, as you can see.
+
+"What's that you said about spirit meals?" quizzed the guide after they
+had gotten started with their dinner.
+
+"The kind a fellow I knew used to make for his men on the farm,"
+answered Stacy promptly.
+
+"Tell us about it.  I never heard you mention it," urged Tad.
+
+"He fed his men mostly on spirit soup.  Ever hear of spirit soup?"
+
+"I never did.  Any of you boys ever hear of spirit soup?"
+
+The Pony Riders shook their heads.  They were not particularly interested
+in Chunky's narration.  Ned frowned and went on with his dinner.
+
+"Well, this fellow used to make it.  He had barrels of the stuff,
+and-----"
+
+"How is the chuck made?" demanded Jim Nance.
+
+"I'll tell you.  To make spirit soup you catch a snipe.  Then you starve
+him to death.  Understand?"
+
+Nance nodded.
+
+"After you've starved him to death you hang him up on the sunny side
+of the house till he becomes a shadow.  A shadow, you understand?
+Well, after he's become a shadow you let the shadow drop into a
+barrel of rainwater.  The result is spirit soup.  Serve a teaspoonful
+a day as directed," added Stacy, coming to a sudden stop as Ned trod
+on his toes with a savage heel.
+
+Jim Nance's whiskers stood out, the ends trembling as if from the
+agitation of their owner, causing Chunky to shrink within himself.
+
+"Very unseemly, young man," rebuked the Professor.
+
+"It seems so," muttered Walter under his breath; then all hands
+laughed heartily.
+
+The meal being finished, Nance ordered a three-seated buckboard
+brought around.  Into this the whole outfit piled until the bottom
+of the vehicle bent almost to the ground.
+
+"Will it hold?" questioned the Professor apprehensively.
+
+"I reckon it will if it doesn't break.  We'll let the fat boy walk if
+we've got too big a load," Nance added, with a twinkle.
+
+"No, I'll ride, sir," spoke up Stacy promptly.  "I'm very delicate and
+I'm not allowed to walk, because-----"
+
+"How far is it out to the corral, Mr. Nance?" questioned Tad.
+
+"'Bout a mile as the hawk flies.  We'll be there in a jiffy."
+
+It appeared that all arrangements had been made by Mr. Perkins for the
+stock, through a bank in Flagstaff, where he had deposited funds to
+cover the purchase of stock and stores for the trip through the Canyon.
+This the Professor understood.  There remained little for the boys to
+do except for each to pick out the pony be fancied.
+
+They looked over the mustangs in the corral, asking the owner about
+this and that one.
+
+"I'll take that one," said Chunky, indicating a mild-eyed pinto that
+stood apparently half asleep.
+
+The owner of the herd of mustangs smiled.
+
+"Kind and sound, isn't he?" questioned the fat boy.
+
+"Oh, he's sound all right."
+
+"Do you know how to handle a pinto, boy?" questioned Nance.
+
+"Do I?  Of course I do.  Haven't I been riding the toughest critters
+on the ranges of the Rockies for years and years?  Don't I know how to
+rope anything that ambles on four legs?  Well, I guess!  Gimme that
+rope.  I'll show you how to fetch a sleepy pinto out of his dreams."
+
+The black that Chunky coveted seemed, at that moment, to have opened
+his eyes ever so little, then permitted the eyelids to droop.  It was
+not a good sign as Tad viewed it, and the Pony Rider was an excellent
+horseman.
+
+"Better be careful, Chunky," he warned.  "Shan't I rope him for you?"
+
+"I guess not.  If I can't rope him I'd like to see you do it."
+
+"Sail in.  You know best," answered Tad, with a grin, winking at Ned
+and the Professor.  Jim Nance appeared to take only a passive interest
+in the matter.  He might have his say later provided his advice were
+needed.
+
+Chunky ran his rope through his hands, then grasping the hondo, strode
+boldly into the corral.
+
+"I reckon it's time we were climbing the fence," announced Tad.
+
+"I reckon it is," agreed the guide, vaulting to the top rail, which
+action was followed by the other two boys, only the owner of the herd
+and Professor Zepplin remaining inside the corral with Stacy.
+
+Suddenly Stacy let go the loop of his lariat.  It dropped over the head
+of the sleepy pinto.  The pinto, at the touch of the rope, sprang into
+sudden life.  Then things began to happen in that corral.  Stacy Brown
+was the center of the happenings.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+TENDERFEET SHOW THEIR SKILL
+
+
+"Woof!" exclaimed Ned Rector.
+
+"Oh!" cried Walter Perkins.
+
+"Good boy! Hang on!" shouted Tad encouragingly.
+
+It is doubtful whether Stacy heard either the words of warning or those
+of encouragement from Tad, for at that moment Stacy's feet were up in
+the air.  The pinto had leaped forward like a shot the instant it felt
+the touch of the rope.  Of course Chunky, who had clung to the rope,
+went along at the same rate of speed.
+
+A great cloud of dust rose from the corral.  The mustang was darting
+here and there, bucking, squealing and kicking.  In a moment most of
+the other mustangs were doing likewise.  The owner of the herd, calling
+to the Professor, darted out, leaving one bar of the fence down.
+Professor Zepplin, becoming confused, missed his way and found himself
+penned into one corner at the far side, almost the center of a circle
+of kicking mustangs.
+
+Tad saw the danger of their companion almost at once.  The lad leaped
+down, and darting among the kicking animals, made his way toward the
+Professor just as Stacy's mustang leaped the bars.  Stacy's toes
+caught the top rail, retarding his progress for the briefest part
+of a second, then he shot out into the air after the racing mustang.
+
+"Leggo!" roared the boys.
+
+"Let go!" shouted the guide.  "The little fool!  Doesn't he know enough
+to come in out of the wet?"
+
+"You'll find he doesn't, sir.  Your troubles have only just begun.
+You'll be demanding an increase of wages before you have followed
+Stacy Brown for a full twenty-four hours," prophesied Ned.
+
+In the meantime Tad had reached the Professor, regardless of the
+flying hoofs about him.  With his rope the boy drove the animals off
+just in time.  Somehow they seemed to have taken it into their heads
+that the Professor was responsible for their having been disturbed
+and they were opening their hoof batteries upon him.  They gave way
+before the resolute young Pony Rider almost at once.  They recognized
+that this slender young plainsman and mountaineer was unafraid.
+
+The Professor was weak in the knees by the time he had been led out.
+
+"I didn't know you were in there," apologized Nance.
+
+"Where's Stacy?" was the Professor's first question.
+
+"He's gone by the air line," answered Walter.
+
+While all this had been taking place Chunky had continued in his mad
+flight for a short distance.  He had a long hold on the rope by which
+the mustang was hauling him.  The wary beast, espying a tree whose
+limbs hung low, changed his course and darted under the lowest of
+the limbs.  Its intention was plain to those who knew the habits of
+these gentle beasts.  The mustang intended to "wipe" the Pony Rider
+boy free of the line.
+
+Just before reaching the low-hanging limb the pinto darted to one
+side, then to the other after an almost imperceptible halt.  The
+result was the rope was drawn under the low limb.  A quick leap on
+the part of the mustang, that exhibited almost human intelligence by
+this manoeuvre, caused Chunky to do a picturesque flop over the limb,
+falling flat on his back on the other side.  This brought the mustang
+to a quick stop, for the rope had taken a firm hitch around the limb.
+
+The sudden jolt and stoppage of his progress threw the mustang on his
+nose, where he poised for a few seconds, then he too toppled over on
+his back.
+
+The owner of the herd was screaming with, merriment, Jim Nance was
+slapping his sides as he ran, while the Professor was making for the
+fat boy with long strides.
+
+Tad reached Stacy first.  The fat boy lay blinking, looking up at him.
+Stacy's clothes were pretty well torn, though his body did not seem
+to be harmed beyond the loss of considerable skin.
+
+"Let me have that rope," commanded Tad.
+
+"N-n-no you don't."
+
+"Let me have that rope, I tell you.  I'll attend to the pinto for you."
+
+"Here, give it to me," ordered Jim Nance, reaching for the rope which
+Tad Butler had taken.
+
+"I can handle him, Mr. Nance."
+
+The "handling" was not easy.  Tad was hauled over the best part of an
+acre of ground ere he succeeded finally in getting an opportunity to
+cast his own rope.  When, however, he did make the cast, the rope
+caught the pinto by a hind foot, sending the stubborn little beast to
+the ground.  Then Tad was jerked this way and that as the animal
+sought to kick the foot free.
+
+"Grab the neck rope some of you," he cried.
+
+Nance was the first to obey the command.  It was the work of but a
+moment temporarily to subdue the pinto.
+
+"Take him back.  We don't want the critter," ordered the guide.
+
+"I---I want him," declared Stacy, limping up to the former sleepy
+beast.
+
+"I'll break him so I guess Stacy can ride him," said Tad.  "Ned, will
+you fetch my saddle and bridle?  I can't let go here just yet.  Has
+this fellow ever been ridden?" demanded the boy, looking up at the owner.
+
+"I reckon he has, but not much."
+
+"Why did you let Brown rope the pinto, then?"
+
+"He said he wanted him."
+
+"Let him up," directed Tad.  The mustang had another spell, but ere
+he had finished his bucking Tad had skillfully thrown the saddle on
+and made fast the saddle girth at the risk of his own life.  Next came
+the bridle, which was not so easily put in place.  It was secured at
+last, after which the lad stepped back to wipe the perspiration from
+his face and forehead.  Dark spots on his khaki blouse showed where
+the sweat had come through the tough cloth.
+
+"Now I'll ride him," Butler announced.
+
+For the next quarter of an hour there followed an exhibition that won
+the admiration of all who saw it.  All the bucking and kicking that
+the pinto could do failed to unseat Tad Butler.  When finally he rode
+back to the group, Mr. Mustang's head was held straight out.  Once more
+the sleepy look had come into his eyes, but it was not the same crafty
+look that had been there before.  He was conquered, at least for the
+time being.
+
+"Now, Chunky, you may try him."
+
+"What do you think of that for riding?" demanded Stacy, turning to
+the guide.
+
+"Oh, he'll ride one of these days," answered the guide.
+
+"I believe you're a grouch," snorted the fat boy, as he swung into the
+saddle, quickly thrusting his toes into the stirrups, expecting to be
+bucked up into the air.
+
+But nothing of the sort followed.  The mustang was as meek as could be.
+Stacy rode the animal up and down the field until satisfied that the
+pinto was thoroughly broken.  Stacy was an object of interest to all.
+He was a very much banged-up gentleman, nor was Tad so very far behind
+him in that respect.
+
+Young Butler chose for his mount a mustang with a white face.  Already
+Tad had decided to call him Silver Face.  The two very quickly came
+to an understanding, after a lively but brief rustle about the enclosure.
+After this Tad roped out the pintos for the others of his party.  This
+done, the boys took their mustangs out into the field, where they tried
+them out.  The spectators were then treated to an exhibition of real
+riding, though the Pony Riders were not doing this for the sake of
+showing off.  They wanted to try their mounts out thoroughly before
+deciding to keep those they had chosen.
+
+At last they decided that the stock could stand as picked out, with
+the exception of Walter Perkins's mustang, which went lame shortly
+after the boy had started off with him.
+
+"I guess we are all right now," announced Tad, riding up to where the
+Professor and Jim Nance were standing.  "Has either of you any
+suggestions to offer?"
+
+"Hain't got no suggestions to offer to the likes of you," grumbled the
+guide.  "Where'd you learn to ride like that?"
+
+"Oh, I don't know.  It came natural, I guess," replied Tad simply.  "The
+others ride as well as I do."
+
+"Then we'll be moving.  I reckon you are figgering on gitting started
+to-day?"
+
+"Yes, we might as well be on our way as soon as you are ready, Mr.
+Nance," agreed the Professor.
+
+"How about the pack train?" asked Tad.
+
+"The mules are all ready," answered the guide.
+
+The lads rode their new horses back to Flagstaff.  None cared to ride
+in the buckboard long as there was a horse to ride.  Even the Professor
+thought he would feel at home in the saddle once more.  Nance observed
+that though Professor Zepplin was not the equal of the Pony Riders on
+horseback, yet he was a good man in the saddle.  Nance was observing
+them all.  He knew they would be together for some weeks and it was
+well to understand the peculiarities of each one of the party at the
+earliest possible moment.
+
+Reaching town the party found that the entire equipment for the pack
+train had been gotten in readiness.  There remained but to pack the
+mules and they would be ready for their start.  This was done with a
+will, and about two o'clock in the afternoon the outfit set off over
+the stage road, headed for the Grand Canyon.
+
+It was a happy party, full of song and jest and joy for that which was
+before them.  The way led through the Coconino Park.  Some three miles
+out they halted at the edge of a dry lake basin, in the centre of which
+was a great gaping hole.  The Professor pointed to it inquiringly.
+
+"There was a lake here up to a few years ago," explained Jim.  "Bottom
+fell out and the water fell in.  Ain't no bottom to it now at all"
+
+"Then---then the water must have leaked out on the other side of the
+world," stammered Chunky, his eyes big with wonder.
+
+"I reckon it must have soused a heathen Chinee," answered Nance, with
+a grin.
+
+"Pity it didn't fall out the other way and souse a few guides, eh?"
+questioned the fat boy, with a good-natured grimace at which Nance
+laughed inwardly, his shaking whiskers being the only evidence of
+any emotion whatever.
+
+"Up there is Walnut Canyon," explained Jim.  "Cliff dwellers lived up
+there some time ago."
+
+"Yes, we met some of them down south," nodded Chunky.
+
+"You mean we saw where they once lived long, long ago," corrected
+Professor Zepplin.
+
+"Yes, we saw where they lived," agreed Stacy.
+
+The way led on through a forest of pines, the trail underfoot being of
+lava, as hard and smooth as a road could be.  They were gradually
+drawing nearer to Sunset Mountain.  After a time they turned off to
+the right, heading straight for the mountain.
+
+Tad rode back to the Professor to find out where they were going.
+
+"I thought you boys might like to explore the mountain.  You will find
+some things there well worth scientific consideration."
+
+"Yes, sir; that will be fine."
+
+"You know the mountain was once a great volcano."
+
+"How long ago?" interrupted Stacy.
+
+"A few million years or so."
+
+"Mr. Nance must have been a boy in short trousers then," returned Stacy
+quizzically.  The guide's whiskers bristled and stood out straight.
+
+The road by this time had lost its hardness.  The ponies' hoofs sank
+deep into the cinders, making progress slow for the party.  They
+managed to get to the base of the mountain, but the mustangs were
+pretty well fagged.  The animals were turned out for the night after
+having been hobbled so that they could not stray far away.
+
+"Now each of you will have to carry a pack," announced the guide.
+"I will tell you what to take."
+
+"Why, where are we going?" asked Tad.
+
+"We are going to spend the night in the crater of the extinct volcano,"
+said the Professor.  "Will not that be a strange experience?"
+
+"Hurrah for the crater!" shouted the boys.
+
+"Speaking of volcanoes, I wish you wouldn't open your mouth so wide,
+Ned.  It makes me dizzy.  I'm afraid I'll fall in," growled Chunky.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+A NIGHT IN THE CRATER
+
+
+"What, climb that mountain?" demanded Stacy.
+
+"Surely.  You are not afraid of a mountain, are you?" demanded Tad.
+
+"I'm not afraid of---of anything, but I'm delicate, I tell yau."
+
+"Just the same, you'll pack about fifty pounds up the side of that hill,"
+jeered Ned Rector.
+
+The pack mules had not yet come up with their driver.  The party
+foreseeing this, had brought such articles as would be needed for the
+night.  Taking their blankets and their rifles, together with food and
+wood for a fire, they began the slow, and what proved to be painful,
+ascent of Sunset Mountain.
+
+A lava field stretched directly in front of them, barring the way.  Its
+forbidding surface had been riven by the elements until it was a perfect
+chaos of black tumult.  By the time the Pony Rider Boys had gotten over
+this rough stretch, they were ready to sit down and rest.  Nance would
+not permit them to do so.  He said they would have barely time to reach
+the crater before dark, as it was, and that they must make the best
+speed possible.  No one grumbled except Stacy, but it was observed that
+he plodded along with the others, a few paces to the rear.
+
+The Professor now and then would point to holes in the lava to show
+where explosions had taken place, bulging the lava around the edge and
+hurling huge rocks to a considerable distance.  As they climbed the
+mountain proper they found that Sunset, too, had engaged in some gunnery
+in those far-away ages, as was shown by many lava bombs lying about
+the base.
+
+The route up the mountain side was over a cider-buried lava flow, the
+fine cinders under foot soon making progress almost a torture.  Tad was
+the first to stand on his head as his feet went out from under him.
+Stacy, in a fit of uproarious laughter, did the next stunt, that of
+literally standing on his right ear.  Chunky tried to shout and got
+his mouth full of cinders.
+
+"I'm going back," howled the fat boy.  "I didn't come up here to climb
+slumbering volcanoes."
+
+"I'll tell you what I'll do, I'll carry you, Stacy," said Tad, smiling
+and nodding toward the cinder-blackened face of his companion.
+
+"You mean it?"
+
+"Of course I mean it."
+
+"I guess I can walk.  I'm not quite so big a baby as that."
+
+"I thought so.  Have your fun.  If you get into trouble you know your
+friend, Tad Butler, is always on the job."
+
+"You bet I do.  But this is an awful climb."
+
+It was all of that.  One step upward often meant a slide of several short
+steps backward.  The Professor's face was red, and unuttered words were
+upon his lips.  Jim Nance was grinning broadly, his whiskers bobbing up
+and down as he stumbled up the side of Old Sunset.
+
+"I reckon the tenderfeet will get enough of it before they get to the
+Canyon," chuckled the guide.
+
+"Say, Mr. Nance, we don't want to Mister you all the time.  What shall
+we call you for short?" asked Tad Butler.
+
+"Anything you want."
+
+"What d'ye say if we call you Whiskers?" called Stacy.
+
+"Stacy!" rebuked the Professor sternly.
+
+"Oh, let the little tenderfoot rant.  He's harmless.  Call me Whiskers,
+if it does ye any good."
+
+"I'm no tenderfoot," protested Chunky.
+
+"Nor be I all whiskers," returned the guide, whereat Chunky's face
+turned red.
+
+"I guess we'll call you Dad, for you'll have to be our dad for some time
+to come," decided Tad.
+
+"That'll be all right, providing it suits the fat little tenderfoot."
+
+Stacy did not reply to this.  He was having too much trouble to keep
+right side up just then to give heed to anything else.
+
+"Go zig-zag.  You'll never get to the top this way," called Tad.  "You
+know how a switchback railroad works?  Well, go as nearly like a
+switch-back as possible."
+
+"That's a good idea," agreed Dad.  "You'll get there quicker, as the
+young gentleman says."
+
+Tad looked at his companions, grinning broadly.  As they got nearer to
+the top the color of the cinders changed from black to a brick red.
+They began to understand why the peak of Sunset always presented such
+a rosy appearance.  It was due to the tint of the cinders that had been
+thrown from the mouth of the volcano ages ago.
+
+"We have now entered the region of perpetual sunset," announced the
+Professor.
+
+Chunky took advantage of the brief halt to sit down.  He slid back
+several feet on the treacherous footing.
+
+Still further up the mountain took on a rich yellow color, but near the
+rim it was almost white.  It was a wonderful effect and caused the
+Pony Riders to gaze in awe.  But darkness was approaching rapidly.  The
+guide ordered them to be on the way, because he desired to reach the rim
+of the crater while they still were able to see.  What his reasons were
+the boys did not know.  They took for granted that Dad knew his business,
+which Dad did.  He had spent many years in this rough country and knew
+it well.  The Grand Canyon was his home.  He lived in it the greater
+part of the year.  When winter came, Dad, with his mustang, his cattle
+and equipment would descend into the Grand Canyon far from snow and
+bitter cold into a land of perpetual summer, where, beside the roaring
+Colorado, he would spend the winter alone with his beloved Canyon.
+
+Dad's was a strange nature.  He understood the moods of the great gash
+in the plateau; he seemed literally to be able to translate the
+mysterious moans and whispers of the wind as it swirled between the
+rocky walls and went shrieking up the painted sides of the gulches.
+
+But of all this the boys knew nothing as yet.  It was all to be revealed
+to them later.
+
+"You'll have a look over the country tomorrow," said Dad.
+
+"Where is the Canyon?" asked Tad, eager for a view of the wonderful spot.
+
+"You'll get a glimpse of it in the morning.  You'll know the place when
+you get to it.  Here we be at the top.  There's the hole."
+
+Chunky peered into the crater rather timidly.
+
+"How do you get down?" he asked.
+
+"Slide," answered Ned.
+
+"I can do that, but what's at the bottom?"
+
+"The same thing.  Cinders and lava," answered Tad.  "What would you
+expect to find in a volcano?"
+
+"I'd never expect to find Stacy Brown in one, and I'm not sure that I'm
+going to."
+
+"All hands follow me.  There's no danger," called the guide, shouldering
+his pack and leaping and sliding down the sharp incline.  He was
+followed by the boys with shouts of glee.  They went tumbling head over
+heels, laughing, whooping, letting off their excess steam.  The
+Professor's grim face relaxed in a smile; Dad's eyes twinkled.
+
+"We'll take it out of them by and by," he confided to the Professor.
+
+"You don't know them," answered Professor Zepplin.  "Better men than
+you or I have tried it.  Remember, they are young.  We are old men.
+Of course, it is different with you.  You are hardened to the work,
+still I think they could tire both of us out."
+
+"We'll see about that."
+
+"Whoop-e-e!" came the voice of Tad Butler far below them.  "I'm at the
+bottom.  Any wild animals down here, Dad?"
+
+"Only one at present.  There'll be three more in a minute."
+
+"Six, you mean," laughed Tad.
+
+The others had soon joined him.
+
+"How far are we from the surface?" asked Walter.
+
+"About five hundred feet down.  We're in the bowels of the mountain for
+sure, kid," answered the guide.
+
+"That's pretty tough on the mountain.  I'm afraid it will have a bad
+case of indigestion," laughed Tad.
+
+"You needn't be.  It has swallowed tougher mouthfuls than you are,"
+returned the guide, ever ready with an answer.
+
+"Dad's able to give as good as you send," laughed Ned.
+
+"That's good.  All the better for us," nodded Tad.  "What about some
+light?"
+
+"Unload the wood from your packs.  This is where you are glad you did
+pack some stuff."
+
+In a few minutes a fire was blazing, lighting up the interior of the
+crater.  The boys found themselves in a circular opening of almost
+terrifying roughness and something like a quarter of a mile across.
+Here, in ages past, the forces of Nature had been at work with fearful
+earnestness.  Weird shadows, mysterious shapes, somewhat resembling
+moving figures, were thrown by the flickering blaze of the camp fire.
+While the boys were exploring the crater Dad was busy getting the
+supper ready, talking with Professor Zepplin as he worked.
+
+The voices of the boys echoed from side to side of the crater, sounding
+strange and unreal.  The call to supper put an end to their explorations.
+They sat down with keen edges to their appetites.  It was their first
+meal in the open on this journey.  All were in high spirits.
+
+"I think we should agree upon our work for the future," declared the
+Professor.
+
+"Work?" exclaimed Chunky, opening wide his big eyes.
+
+"Yes.  It is not going to be all play during this trip."
+
+"We are willing to do our share," answered Ned.
+
+"Yes, of course we are," chorused Walt and Stacy, though there was no
+enthusiasm in the fat boy's tone.
+
+"I am of the opinion that you boys should take turns in cooking the
+meals, say one boy to cook for an entire day, another to take the job
+on the following day."
+
+"I'll cook my own," declared the guide.  "No tenderfoot experiments
+in my chuck."
+
+"They know how to cook, Mr. Nance," explained the Professor.
+
+"All right; they may cook for you," said the guide, with a note of
+finality in his tone.  He glanced up at the sky, held out his hand and
+shook his head.  Tad observed the movement.
+
+"What is it?" asked the boy.
+
+"It's going to snow," said Dad.
+
+Tad laughed, glancing at his companions.
+
+"What, snow in June?" questioned Stacy.
+
+"You must remember that you are a good many thousand feet up," the
+Professor informed him.
+
+"Up?  I thought I was down in a crater."
+
+"You are both up and down," spoke up Tad.
+
+"Yes, I'm usually up and down, first standing on my feet then on my
+head," retorted Stacy.  "How are we going to sleep?"
+
+"Same as usual.  Pick out your beds, then roll up in your blankets,"
+directed Dad.  "You are used to it, eh?"
+
+"Well," drawled Chunky, "I've slept in a good many different kinds of
+beds, but this is the first time I ever slept in a lava bed."
+
+True to Dad's prophecy, the snow came within half an hour.
+
+"Better turn in before the beds get too wet," advised Dad.
+
+All hands turned in.  Sleep did not come to the boys as readily as usual.
+They had been sleeping in real beds too long.  After a time the snow
+changed to rain in the warmth of the crater.  Chunky got up disgustedly.
+
+"I'm tired of sleeping in the bath tub," he declared.  "Think I'll move
+into the hall bedroom."
+
+Chuckles were heard from beneath other blankets, while Stacy, grumbling
+and growling, fussed about until he found a place that appeared to be
+to his liking.
+
+"When you get through changing beds perhaps you will give us a chance
+to go to sleep," called the guide.
+
+Stacy's voice died away to an indistinct murmur.  Soon after that quiet
+settled over the dark hole in the mountain.  The rain came down harder
+than ever, but by this time the Pony Rider Boys were asleep.  They
+neither heard nor felt the water, though every one was drenched to the
+skin.
+
+Toward morning Tad woke up with a start.  He thought something had
+startled him.  Just then an unearthly yell woke the echoes of the
+crater.  Yell upon yell followed for the next few seconds, each yell
+seeming to be further away than the preceding one, and finally dying
+out altogether.
+
+"It's Chunky!" shouted Tad, kicking himself free of his blankets and
+leaping up.  "Some thing's happened to Chunky!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+TAD LENDS HELPING HAND
+
+
+"What is it?  What is it?" cried the other boys, getting free of their
+blankets and in the confusion rolling and kicking about in the cinders.
+
+"What is it?" shouted the Professor, very much excited.
+
+Ned, dragging his blanket after him, had started to run about, not
+knowing which way to turn nor what had occurred.  In the meantime the
+guide and Tad had started in the direction from which the yells had
+seemed to come.
+
+"It was this way," shouted Tad.
+
+Ned headed them off running toward the west edge of the crater.  All at
+once a new note sounded.  With an unearthly howl Ned Rector disappeared.
+They heard his voice growing fainter, too, just as Stacy's had done.
+
+"They've fallen in!" cried Tad.
+
+"Everybody stand still!" commanded Dad.
+
+Recognizing that he was right, the others obeyed, with the exception of
+Tad Butler, who crept cautiously forward, feeling his way with the toes
+of his boots, that he too might not share the fate of his two companions.
+
+Dad, from somewhere about his person, produced a bundle of sticks which
+he lighted.  He was prepared for just such an emergency.  A flickering
+light pierced the deep shadows, just enough to show the party that two
+of their number had disappeared.
+
+"There is the place," cried Tad.  "It's a hole in the ground.  They've
+fallen in."
+
+"Chunky's always falling in," laughed Walter half hysterically.
+
+With his rope in hand, Tad sprang forward.
+
+"Light this way, please," called Butler.  "Hello, down there!" he cried,
+peering into the hole in the ground.
+
+"Hello!" came back a faint answer from Ned Rector.  "Get us out quick."
+
+"What happened?"
+
+"I don't know.  Chunky fell in and I fell on him."
+
+"Is he hurt?"
+
+"I don't know.  I guess I knocked the wind out of him."
+
+"How far down are you?" demanded Dad peering in, holding his torch low,
+exposing a hole about six feet square at the top, widening out as it
+extended downward.
+
+"I---I don't know.  It felt like a mile when I came down.  Hurry.  Think
+I want to stay here all night?"
+
+"If Stacy isn't able to help himself, tie the rope around his waist and
+we will haul him up," directed Tad.
+
+"Serve him right to leave him here," retorted Ned.
+
+"All right, we will leave you both there, if you feel that way," answered
+Nance grimly.
+
+"He doesn't mean it," said Tad.  "Ned must have his joke, no matter how
+serious the situation may be." Tad lowered his rope, loop first.  "Well,
+how about it?" he called.
+
+"I've made it fast.  Haul away." Chunky was something of a heavy weight.
+It required the combined efforts of those at the top to haul him out.
+Dragging Stacy to the surface, Tad dropped beside the fat boy, giving
+him a shake and peering anxiously into his eyes, shouting, "Stacy!
+Stacy!"
+
+Chunky opened one eye and winked knowingly at Tad.
+
+"Oh, you rascal!  You've made us pull until we are out of breath.  Why'd
+you make a dead weight of yourself?"
+
+"Is---is he all right?" inquired Professor Zepplin anxiously.
+
+"He hasn't been hurt-----"
+
+"Yes, I have.  I'm all bunged up---I'm all shot to pieces.  The---the
+mountain blew up and-----"
+
+"Well, are you fellows going to leave me down here all the rest of the
+night?" demanded the far-away voice of Ned Rector.
+
+"Yes, you stay there.  You're out of the wet," answered Stacy.
+
+"That's a fine way to talk after I have saved your life almost at the
+expense of my own."
+
+"Pshaw! Saved my life!  You nearly knocked it all out of me when you
+fell on top of me."
+
+"Here comes the rope, Ned," called Tad.  "If you can help us a little
+you will make the haul easier for us."
+
+"I'll use my feet."
+
+"Better take a hitch around your waist in case you should slip," advised
+Butler.
+
+Ned did so, and by bracing his feet against the side of the rock he was
+able to aid them not a little in their efforts to haul him to the
+surface.  Ned fixed Stacy with stern eye.
+
+"Were you bluffing all the time?" he demanded.
+
+"Was I bluffing?  Think a fellow would need to bluff when a big chump
+like you fell in on him?  I thought the mountain had caved in on me, but
+it was something softer than a mountain, I guess," added Stacy
+maliciously.
+
+"What did happen?" demanded Ned, gazing at the hole wonderingly.
+
+"It's one of those thin crusts," announced the guide, examining the
+broken place in the lava with critical eyes, in which occupation the
+Professor joined.
+
+"Yes, it was pretty crusty," muttered Chunky.
+
+"You see, sir, this occurs occasionally," nodded the guide, looking up
+at the grizzled face of Professor Zepplin.  "One never knows in this
+country when the crust is going to give way and let him down.  I guess
+the rain must have weakened the ground."
+
+"And I fell in again," growled Stacy.
+
+"You were bound to fall in sooner or later," answered Tad.  "Perhaps it
+is just as well that you fell in a soft place."
+
+"A soft place?" shouted Stacy.  "If you think so, just take a drop in
+there yourself."
+
+"I thought it was the softest thing I ever fell on," grinned Rector,
+whereupon the laugh was on Stacy.
+
+There was no more sleep in the camp in the crater of Sunset Peak that
+night.  Nor was there fire to warm the campers.  They walked about
+until daylight.  That morning they made a breakfast on cold biscuit
+and snowballs at the rim of the crater.  But as the sun came out they
+felt well repaid for all that they had passed through on the previous
+night.  Such a vista of wonderful peaks as lay before them none of the
+Pony Riders ever had gazed upon.
+
+To the west lay the San Francisco Peaks, those ever-present landmarks
+of northern Arizona.  To the south the boys looked off over a vast area
+of forest and hills, while to the east in the foreground were grouped
+many superb cinder cones, similar to the one on which they were
+standing, though not nearly so high.  Lava beds, rugged and barren,
+reached out like fingers to the edge of the plateau as if reaching for
+the far-away painted desert.
+
+"Where is the Canyon?" asked Tad in a low voice.
+
+"Yonder," said Dad, pointing to the north over an unbroken stretch of
+forest.  There in the dim distance lay the walls of the Grand Canyon,
+the stupendous expanse of the ramparts of the Canyon stretching as far
+as the eye could see.
+
+"How far away are they?" asked Tad.
+
+"More than forty miles," answered Dad.  "You wait till we get to the
+edge.  You can't tell anything about those buttes now."
+
+"What is a butte---how did they happen to be called that?" asked Walter.
+
+"A butte is a butte," answered the guide.
+
+"A butte is a bump on the landscape," interjected Stacy.
+
+"A butte is a mound of earth or stone worn away by erosion," answered
+the Professor, with an assurance that forbade any one to question the
+correctness of his statement.
+
+"Yes, sir," murmured the Pony Rider Boys.  "A wart on the hand of fair
+Nature, as it were," added Chunky under his breath.
+
+"Come, we must be on our way," urged Dad.  "We want to make half the
+distance to the Canyon before night.  I reckon the pack train will have
+gone on.  We'll have to live on what we have in our saddle bags till
+we catch up with the train, which I reckon we'll do hard onto noon."
+
+No great effort was required to descend Sunset Mountain.  It was one
+long slide and roll.  The boys screamed with delight as they saw the
+dignified Professor coasting and taking headers down the cinder-covered
+mountain.
+
+By this time the clothes of the explorers had become well dried out in
+the hot sun.  When they reached the camp they found that the pack train
+had long since broken camp and gone on.
+
+"Where are the ponies?" cried Walter, looking about.
+
+"I'll get them," answered Dad, circling the camp a few times to pick up
+the trail.
+
+It will be remembered that the animals had been hobbled on the previous
+afternoon and turned loose to graze.  Dad found the trail and was off
+on it running with head bent, reminding the boys of the actions of a
+hound.  While he was away Tad cooked breakfast, made coffee and the
+others showed their appreciation of his efforts by eating all that was
+placed before them and calling loudly for more.  Dad returned about an
+hour later, riding Silver Face, driving the other mustangs before him.
+When the boys saw the stock coming in they shouted with merriment.  The
+mustangs had been hobbled by tying their fore feet together.  This made
+it necessary for the animals to hop like kangaroos.  The boys named them
+the kangaroos right then and there.
+
+Tad had some hot coffee ready for Nance by the time Dad got back.  The
+guide forgot that he had declared against eating or drinking anything
+cooked by the Pony Rider Boys.  He did full justice to Tad's cooking,
+while the rest of the boys stood around watching the guide eat, offering
+suggestions and remarks.  Dad took it all good-naturedly.  He would have
+plenty of opportunities to get back at them.  Dad was something of a
+joker himself, though this fact was suspected only by Tad Butler, who
+had noted the constantly recurring twinkle in the eyes of the guide.
+
+"We shall hear from Dad one of these days," was Butler's mental
+conclusion.  "All right, we deserve all we get and more, I guess."
+
+Shortly afterwards the party was in the saddle, setting out for their
+forty-mile ride in high spirits.  They hoped to reach their destination
+early on the following morning.  Some of the way was dusty and hot,
+though the greater part of it was shaded by the giant pines.
+
+They caught up with the pack train shortly before noon, as Nance had
+said they would.  A halt was made and a real meal cooked while the
+mustangs were watered and permitted to graze at the ends of their
+ropes.  The meal being finished, saddle bags were stocked as the party
+would not see the pack train again until some time on the following day.
+Then the journey was resumed again.
+
+The Pony Rider Boys were full of anticipation for what they would see
+when they reached the Canyon.  Dad was in a hurry, too.  He could
+hardly wait until he came in sight of his beloved Canyon.  But even with
+all their expectations the lads had no idea of the wonderful sight in
+store for them when they should first set eyes on this greatest of
+Nature's wonders.
+
+That night they took supper under the tall trees, and after a sleep of
+some three hours, were roughly awakened by the guide, who soon had them
+started on their way again.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+A SIGHT THAT THRILLED
+
+
+"We'll make camp here for a time, I reckon," announced Dad about two
+o'clock in the morning.
+
+"I thought we were going on to the Canyon," said Tad.
+
+"We shall see it in the morning," answered the guide somewhat evasively.
+"You boys turn in now, and get some sleep, for you will want to have
+your eyes wide open in the morning.  But let me give you a tip: Don't
+you go roaming around in the dark here."
+
+"Why---why not?" demanded Stacy Brown.
+
+"Oh, nothing much, only we're likely to lose your valuable company if
+you try it.  You have a habit of falling in, I am told.  You'll fall in
+for keeps if you go moseying about in this vicinity."
+
+"Where are we?" asked Butler.
+
+"'Bout half a mile from the El Tovar," answered Nance.  "Now you fellows
+turn in.  Stake down the pintos.  Isn't safe to let them roam around on
+two legs."
+
+Tad understood.  He knew from the words of Nance that they were
+somewhere in the vicinity of the great gash in the earth that they
+had come so far to see.  But he was content to wait until the morrow
+for the great sight that was before them.
+
+The sun was an hour high before they felt the heavy hand of Jim Nance
+on their shoulders shaking them awake.  The odor of steaming coffee
+and frying bacon was in the air.
+
+"What---sunrise?" cried Tad, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.
+
+"And breakfast?" added Ned.
+
+"Real food?" piped Stacy Brown.
+
+"Where do we wash?" questioned Walter.
+
+"You will have to take a sun bath," answered the guide with a twinkle.
+"There isn't any water near this place.  We will find water for the
+stock later in the morning."
+
+"But where is the Canyon?" wondered Tad.
+
+"You're at it."
+
+"I don't see anything that looks like a canyon," scoffed Ned.
+
+"No, this is a level plateau," returned Tad.  "However, I guess Dad
+knows what he is talking about.  I for one am more interested in what
+I smell just now than anything else."
+
+Chunky sniffed the air.
+
+"Well, it will take more than a smell to satisfy me this morning,"
+declared Chunky, wrinkling his nose.
+
+"This is my day to cook," called Tad.  "Why didn't you let me get the
+breakfast, Mr. Nance?"
+
+"I'm doing the cooking this morning.  I've had a long walk and feel
+fine, so I decided to be the cook, the wrangler and the whole outfit
+this morning.  How do you feel, boys?"
+
+"Fine!" chorused the Pony Riders.  "But we thought we should see the
+Canyon when we woke up this morning."
+
+A quizzical smile twitched the corners of Dad's mouth.  Tad saw that
+the guide had something of a surprise for them.  The lad asked no
+further questions.
+
+Breakfast finished, the boys cleared away the dishes, packing everything
+as if for a continuation of their journey, which they fully expected
+to make.
+
+A slight rise of ground lay a few rods ahead of them.  Tad started
+to stroll that way.  He halted as a party of men and women were seen
+approaching from the direction of El Tovar, where the hotel was located.
+
+"Now, gentlemen, you may walk along," nodded the guide, smiling broadly.
+
+"Which way?" asked the Professor.
+
+"Follow the crowd you see there."
+
+They saw the party step up to the rise, then a woman's scream smote their
+ears.  Tad, thinking something had occurred, dashed forward.
+
+He reached the level plateau on the rise, where his companions saw him
+halt suddenly, throwing both arms above his head.
+
+The boys started on a run, followed by the professor, who by this time
+was a little excited.
+
+Then all at once the glorious panorama burst upon them.  There at their
+very feet lay the Grand Canyon.  Below them lay the wonder of the world,
+and more than five thousand feet down, like a slender silver thread,
+rippled the Colorado.
+
+The first sight of the Canyon affects different persons differently.  It
+overwhelmed the Pony Rider Boys, leaving them speechless.  They shrank
+back as they gazed into the awful chasm at their feet and into which
+they might have plunged had the hour been earlier, for it had burst
+upon them almost with the suddenness of the crack of a rifle.
+
+They had thought to see mountains.  There were none.  What they saw was
+really a break in the level plateau.  From where they stood they looked
+almost straight down into the abyss for something more than a mile.
+Gazing straight ahead they saw to the other side of the chasm twelve
+miles away.  To the right and to the left their gaze reached more than
+twenty miles in each direction.
+
+This great space was filled with gigantic architectural constructions,
+with amphitheaters, gorges, precipices, walls of masonry, fortresses,
+terraced up to the level of the eyes, temples, mountain high, all
+brilliant with horizontal lines of color---streaks of hues from a few
+feet to a thousand feet in width, mottled here and there with all the
+colors of the rainbow.
+
+Such coloring, such harmony of tints the Pony Rider Boys never had gazed
+on before.  It seemed to them as if they themselves were standing in
+midair looking down upon a new and wonderful world.  There was neither
+laughter nor jest upon the lips of these brown-faced, hardy boys now.
+
+Professor Zepplin slowly took off his hat in homage to what was there
+at his feet.  He wiped the perspiration from his forehead.  A glance
+at Tad Butler showed tear drops glistening on his cheeks.  He was
+trembling.  Never before had a more profound emotion taken hold of him.
+Ned Rector and Walter Perkins's faces wore expressions of fear.  No
+other moment in the lives of the four boys had been like this.
+
+Dad's face shone as with a reflected light from the Canyon that he
+loved so well, and that had been his almost constant companion for
+more than thirty years; whose moods he knew almost as well as his own,
+and whose every smile or frown had its meaning for him.
+
+The travelers each forgot that there was any other human being than
+himself present.  They were drawn sharply to the fact that there
+were others present, when one of the little party of sight-seers that
+had come over from the hotel picked up a rock, the weight of which was
+almost too much for him.
+
+The lads watched him with fascinated eyes.  The man swung the rock back
+and forth a few times, then hurled it over the edge.  The Pony Rider
+Boys waited, actually holding their breath, to catch the report when
+the rock should strike the bottom.
+
+No report came.  It requires some little time for a rock to fall a mile,
+and when it does land it is doubtful if those at the other end of the
+mile would hear the report.
+
+The faces of the Pony Riders actually paled.  This was indeed the next
+thing to a bottomless pit.  Walter Perkins recalled afterwards that his
+head had spun dizzily, Ned that he was too frightened to move a muscle.
+
+Suddenly the silence was broken by a shout that was really an agonized
+yell.  The voice was Stacy Brown's.
+
+"Hold me! Somebody hold me!" he screamed
+
+The others glanced at him with disapproving eyes.  Could nothing impress
+Chunky?  The fat boy had begun to move forward toward the edge, both
+hands extended in front of him as to ward off something.
+
+"Hold me! I'm going to jump!  Oh, won't somebody hold me?"
+
+Even then only one in that little party appeared to understand.  They
+were paralyzed with amazement and unable to move a muscle.  The one who
+did see and understand was Tad Butler.  Chunky was giving way to an
+irresistible impulse.  He was at that instant being drawn toward the
+terrible abyss.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+ON THE RIM OF ETERNITY
+
+
+Tad caught his breath sharply.  He, too, for the instant seemed unable
+to move.  Then all at once he sprang forward, throwing himself upon the
+fat boy, both going to earth together, locked in a tight embrace.
+
+"Leggo! Leggo!" shrieked Stacy.
+
+The fat boy fought desperately.  He had appealed for help; now he
+refused to accept it.  He was possessed with a maddened desire to throw
+himself into the mile-deep chasm.  It was all Tad Butler could do at
+the moment to keep from being rolled to the rim himself.
+
+Dad, suddenly discovering the situation, ran at full speed toward the
+struggling boys.
+
+"Grab his legs.  I will look out for his shoulders," gasped Tad, sitting
+down on Chunky's face for a brief respite.
+
+"I'll handle him," said the guide quietly.  "They get taken that way
+sometimes when they first look into the hole."
+
+By this time the others, having shaken off the spell, started to move
+toward the scene of the brief conflict.  Dad waved them back; then,
+with Tad holding up the fat boy's shoulders, Dad with Chunky's feet in
+hand, the two carried him back some distance, where they laid him on
+the ground.  Stacy did not move.  His face was ghastly.
+
+"I think he has fainted---fainted away," stammered Tad.
+
+"Let him alone.  He'll be all right in a few minutes," directed the
+guide.
+
+"What made him do that?" wondered Tad, turning large eyes on Nance.
+
+"He jest couldn't help it.  I told you you'd see something, but I didn't
+think Fatty would be taken quite so hard.  You go back."
+
+"No, I'll wait.  You perhaps had better look after the others, Ned or
+the Professor might be taken the same way," answered Tad, with a faint
+smile.
+
+Nance hurried back.  After a time Chunky opened his eyes.  He sat up,
+looking dazed then he reached a feeble hand toward Tad.
+
+"I'd 'a' gone sure, Tad," he said weakly.
+
+"Nonsense!"
+
+"I would, sure."
+
+"Come back and look at it."
+
+"Not for a million, I wouldn't."
+
+"Oh, pooh!  Don't be a baby.  Come back, I tell you.  You've got to get
+over that fright.  We shall have to be around this canyon for some time.
+If you haven't any nerve, why-----"
+
+"Nerve?  Nerve?" queried Stacy, rousing himself suddenly.  "Talk about
+nerve!  Don't you think it takes nerve for a fellow to start in to jump
+off a rock a mile high?  Well, I guess it does.  Don't you talk to me
+about nerve."
+
+"There come the others."
+
+The Professor, the guide and the other boys walked slowly up to them at
+this juncture.  Chunky expected that Ned would make fun of him.  Ned did
+nothing of the sort.  Both Ned and Walter were solemn and their faces
+were drawn.  They sighed as if they had just awakened from a deep sleep.
+
+"What do you think of it, Professor?" asked Tad, looking up.
+
+"Words fail me."
+
+"I must have another look," announced Butler.
+
+He walked straight to the edge of the rim, then lying flat on his
+stomach, head out over the chasm, he gazed down into the terrible abyss.
+
+Jim Nance nodded approvingly.
+
+"He's going to love it just the same as I do."  The old man's heart
+warmed toward Tad Butler in that moment, when Tad, all alone, sought a
+closer acquaintance with the mystery of the great gash.  After a time
+the others walked back, Dad taking Chunky by the nape of the neck.
+Perhaps it was the method of approach, or else Chunky, having had his
+fright, had been cured.  At least this time he felt no fear.  He was
+lost in wonder.
+
+"Buck up now!" urged the guide.
+
+"I am bucked.  Leggo my neck.  I won't make a fool of myself this time,
+I promise you."
+
+"You can't blame him," said Tad, rising from his perilous position and
+walking calmly back to them.  "I nearly got them myself."
+
+"Got what?" demanded Stacy.
+
+"The jiggers."
+
+"That's it.  That describes it."
+
+Professor Zepplin, who had informed himself before starting out, now
+turned suddenly upon them.
+
+"He's going to give us a lecture.  Listen," whispered Tad.
+
+"Young gentlemen, you have, perhaps, little idea of the vastness of that
+upon which you are now gazing."
+
+"We know it is the biggest thing in the world, Professor," said Ned.
+
+"Imagine, if you can," continued the Professor, without heeding the
+interruption, "that this amphitheatre is a real theatre.  Allowing
+twice as much room as is given for the seat of each person in the most
+comfortable theatre in the world, and you could seat here an audience
+of two hundred and fifty millions of people.  These would all be in the
+boxes on this side."
+
+The boys opened their eyes at the magnitude of the figures.
+
+"An orchestra of one hundred million pieces and a chorus of a hundred
+and fifty million voices could be placed comfortably on the opposite
+side.  Can you conceive of such a scene?  What do you think of it?"
+
+"I---I think," stammered Chunky, "that I'd like to be in the box office
+of that show---holding on to the ticket money."
+
+Without appearing to have heard Stacy Brown's flippant reply, Professor
+Zepplin began again.
+
+"Now that you are about to explore this fairy land it is well that you
+be informed in advance as to what it is.  The river which you see down
+there is the Colorado.  As perhaps some of you, who have studied your
+geography seriously, may know, the river is formed in southern Utah by
+the confluence of the Green and Grand, intersecting the north-western
+corner of Arizona it becomes the eastern boundary of Nevada and
+California, flowing southward until it reaches the Gulf of California."
+
+"Yes, sir," said the boys politely, filling in a brief pause.
+
+"That river drains a territory of some three hundred thousand square
+miles, and from its source is two thousand miles long.  This gorge is
+slightly more than two hundred miles long.  Am I correct in my
+figures, Mr. Nance?" demanded the Professor, turning to Dad, a
+"contradict-me-at-your-peril" expression on his face.
+
+"I reckon you are, sir."
+
+"The river has a winding way-----"
+
+"That's the way with rivers," muttered Chunky to himself.
+
+"Millions of years have been consumed in the building of this great
+Canyon.  In that time ten thousand feet of non-conformable strata have
+been deposited, elevated, tilted, and washed away; the depression of
+the Canyon Surface serving for the depositing of Devonian, Lower
+Carboniferous, Upper Carboniferous, Permian, Triassic, Jurassic,
+Cretaceous; the formation of the vast eocene lake and its total
+disappearance; the opening of the earth's crust and the venting from
+its angry stomach the foul lavas---the mind reels and whirls and grows
+dizzy-----"
+
+"So do I," almost shouted Chunky, toppling over in a heap.  "Quit it!
+You make me sea sick-----"
+
+"I am amazed," bristled the Professor.  "I am positively amazed that
+a young gentleman---"
+
+"It was the whirling, reeling suggestion that made his head swim, I
+think, Professor," explained Tad, by way of helping out the fat boy.
+
+The lecture was not continued from that point just then.  The Professor
+postponed the rest of his recital until a more opportune time.
+
+"Will you go down to-day, or will you wait?" asked the guide.
+
+"I think we shall find quite enough here on the edge of the rim to
+occupy our minds for the rest of the day, Nance," returned the Professor.
+
+The boys agreed to this.  They did not feel as if they ever would want
+to leave the view that fascinated and held them so enthralled.  That day
+they journeyed over to the hotel for dinner.  The guests at the quaint
+hotel were much interested in the Pony Rider Boys, and late in the
+afternoon quite a crowd came over to visit Camp Grand, as the lads had
+named their camp after the pack train had arrived and the tents were
+pitched.
+
+There were four tents all pitched in a row facing the Canyon, the tents
+in a straight line.  In front the American flag was planted, the camp
+fire burning about midway of the line and in front, so that at night
+it would light up the entire company street.
+
+They cooked their own supper, Tad attending to this.  But the boys were
+too full of the wonderful things they had seen that day to feel their
+usual keen-edged appetite.
+
+The dishes put away, the Professor having become deeply absorbed in an
+argument with some gentlemen from the hotel regarding the "processes
+of deposition and subsidence of the uplift," Tad slipped away, leaving
+his chums listening to the conversation.  Dad was also listening in
+open-mouthed wonder that any human being could use such long words as
+were being passed back and forth without choking to death.  He was,
+however, so absorbed in the conversation that he did not at the moment
+note Butler's departure.  Tad passed out of sight in the direction of
+the Canyon.
+
+After a few moments had passed, Dad stirred the fire, then he too
+strolled off toward the rim.  Tad, fearless, regardless of the peril to
+himself, was lying flat on his stomach gazing down over the rim,
+listening to the mysterious voices of the Canyon.
+
+"I don't want you to be here, boy," said the guide gently.
+
+Though he had approached silently, without revealing his presence, Tad
+never moved nor started, the tone was so gentle, and then again the
+boy's mind was full of other things.
+
+"Why don't you want me here, Mr. Nance?"  Dad squatted down on the very
+edge of the rim, both feet banging over, one arm thrown lightly over
+Tad's shoulders.
+
+"You might fall."
+
+"What about yourself?  You might fall, too.  You are in more danger than
+am I."
+
+"Dad is not afraid.  The Canyon is his home---"
+
+"You mean you live here?"
+
+"The greater part of the year."
+
+"Where?"
+
+"Some day I will show you.  It is far, far down in my beloved Canyon,
+where the foot of the white man seldom strays.  Have you heard the
+strange voices of Dad's friend?"
+
+"Yes, Dad, I have heard.  I hear them now."
+
+Both fell silent.  The far away roar of the turbulent waters of the
+Colorado was borne to their listening ears.  There were other sounds,
+too, mysterious sounds that came like distant moans, rising and falling,
+with here and there one that sounded like a sob.
+
+"The spirit of the Canyon is sad to-night," murmured Dad.
+
+"Why, Dad, that was the wind sighing through the Canyon."
+
+"Yes, I know, but back of it all there is life, there is the very spirit
+of life.  I don't know how to explain it, but I feel it deep down inside
+of me.  I think you do, too."
+
+"Yes, Dad, I do."
+
+"I know you do.  It's a living thing to me, kid, as it will be to you
+after you know their voices better and they come to know you.  All
+those people," with a sweeping gesture toward the hotel where music and
+song were heard, "miss it all.  What they see is a great spectacle.  To
+see the Grand Canyon is to feel it in your heart.  Seeing it in any
+other way is not seeing it at all."
+
+"And do you live down there alone?"
+
+"Yes.  Why not?"
+
+"I should think you would long for human companionship."
+
+"What, with my beloved Canyon to keep me company?  No, I am never
+lonely," added Jim Nance simply.  "I shall live and die there---I hope,
+and I'll be buried down there somewhere There are riches down there too.
+Gold---much gold-----"
+
+"Why don't you go after it-----"
+
+Dad shook his head.
+
+"It would be like robbing a friend.  No, you may take the gold if you
+can find it, but Dad, never.  See, the moon is up.  Look!"
+
+It was a new scene that Tad gazed upon.  Vishnu Temple, the most
+wonderful piece of architecture in the Canyon, had turned to molten
+silver.  This with Newberry Terrace, Solomon's Throne, Shinto Temple
+and other lesser ones stood out like some wonderful Oriental city.
+
+All at once the quiet of the beautiful scene was disturbed by a bowl
+that was plainly the voice of Stacy Brown.  Stacy, his big eyes missing
+little that had been going on about him, had after a time stolen away
+after Tad and the guide.  His curiosity had been aroused by their
+departure and still more by the time they had been gone.  Chunky
+determined to go out and investigate for himself.
+
+He had picked his way cautiously toward the Canyon when he halted
+suddenly, his eyes growing large at what he saw.
+
+"Yeow! Look!" cried the fat boy.
+
+Both Jim Nance and Tad sprang up.  Those in the camp heard the shout and
+ran toward the rim, fearing that some harm had befallen Stacy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE CITY IN THE SKIES
+
+
+"What has happened now?" cried Tad, running forward.
+
+"Look, look!"
+
+Tad and the guide turned at the same instant gazing off across the
+Canyon.  At first Tad saw nothing more than he had already seen.
+
+"I---I don't-----"
+
+"It's up there in the skies.  Don't you see?" almost shouted Stacy,
+pointing.
+
+"What is it?  What is it?" shouted the others from the camp, coming up
+on a run.
+
+Then Tad saw.  High up in the skies, as plainly outlined as if it were
+not more than a mile away, was reflected a city.  Evidently it was an
+Eastern city, for there were towers, domes and minarets, the most
+wonderful sight he had ever gazed upon.
+
+"A---a mirage!"
+
+"Yes," said Dad.  "We see them here some times, but not often.  My
+friends down there are showing you many things this night.  Yes they
+never do that unless they are pleased.  The spirit of the Canyon is
+well pleased.  I was sure it would be."
+
+By this time the others had arrived.  All were uttering exclamations
+of amazement, only Tad and Dad being silent and thoughtful.  For
+several minutes the reflection hung suspended in the sky, then a
+filmy mist was drawn before it like a curtain.
+
+"Show's over," announced Chunky.  "That billion orchestra will now play
+the overture backwards."
+
+"Most remarkable thing I've ever seen," announced the Professor,
+whereupon he entered into a long scientific discussion on mirages with
+the gentlemen from the hotel.
+
+Tad and the guide followed them slowly back to camp.  The conversation
+soon became general.  Dad was drawn into it, but he spoke no more about
+the things he and Butler had talked of out on the rim of the Canyon,
+literally hanging between heaven and earth.
+
+"Well, what about to-morrow, Mr. Nance?" questioned the Professor, after
+the visitors had left them.
+
+"I reckoned we'd go down Bright Angel Trail," answered the guide.
+
+"Do we take the pack train with us?"
+
+Nance shook his head.
+
+"Too hard a trail.  Besides we can't get anywhere with the mules on that
+trail.  We've got to come back up here."
+
+"Aren't we going into the Canyon to stay?" asked Walter.
+
+"Yes.  We'll either go down Bass Trail or Grand View.  We can get the
+pack mules down those trails, but on the Bright Angel we'll have to
+leave the pintos before we get to the bottom and climb down."
+
+"Any Indians down there?" asked Ned.
+
+"Sure, there are Indians."
+
+"What's that, Indians?" demanded Stacy, alive with quick interest.
+
+"Yes.  There's a Havasupai camp down in Cataract Canyon, then there
+are always some Navajos gunning about to make trouble for themselves
+and everybody else.  The Apaches used to come down here, too, but we
+don't see them very often except when the Havasus give a peace dance
+or there's something out of the ordinary going on."
+
+"And do---do we see them?"
+
+"See the Indians?  Of course you'll see them."
+
+"Are they bad?" asked the fat boy innocently.
+
+"All Indians are bad.  However, the Havasus won't bother you if you
+treat them right.  Don't play any of your funny, sudden tricks on them
+or they might resent it.  They're a peaceable lot when they're let
+alone."
+
+"One of the gentlemen who were here this evening told me the Navajos,
+quite a party of them, had made a camp down near Bright Angel Gulch,
+if you know where that is," spoke up Professor Zepplin.
+
+Dad pricked up his ears at this.
+
+"Then they aren't here for any good.  The agent will be after them if
+they don't watch out.  I'll have a look at those bucks and see what
+rascality they're up to now," said Nance.
+
+"Any chance of a row?" questioned Ned.
+
+"No, no row.  Leastwise not for us.  Your Uncle Sam will look after
+those gentlemen if they get gay.  But they won't.  It will be some
+crooked little trick under cover---taking the deer or something of
+the sort."
+
+"Will we get any chance to shoot deer?" asked Walter.
+
+"You will not unless you are willing to be arrested.  It's a closed
+season from now till winter.  I saw a herd of antelope off near Red
+Butte this afternoon."
+
+"You must have eyes like a hawk," declared Stacy, with emphasis.
+
+"Eyes were made to see with," answered Nance shortly.
+
+"And ears to hear, and feet to foot with, and-----"
+
+"Young men, it is time you were in bed.  I presume Mr. Nance will be
+wanting to make an early start in the morning," said the Professor.
+
+"If we are to get back the same day we'll have to start about daybreak.
+It's a hard trail to pack.  You'll be ready to stretch your legs when
+we get back to-morrow night."
+
+The boys were not ready to use those same legs when they were turned
+out at daybreak.  There was some grumbling, but not much as they got up
+and made ready their hurried breakfast.  In the meantime Nance had
+gotten together such provisions as he thought they would need.  These
+he had packed in the saddle bags so as to distribute the weight. Shortly
+after breakfast they made a start, Dad going first, Tad following close
+behind.
+
+The first two miles of the Bright Angel Trail was a sort of Jacob's
+ladder, zigzagging at an unrelenting pitch.  Most of the way the boys
+had to dig their knees into the sides of their mounts to prevent
+slipping over the animals' necks.
+
+"This is mountain climbing backwards," jeered Stacy.
+
+"I don't know, but I guess I like it the other way," decided Walter,
+looking down a dizzy slope.
+
+"I hope my pony doesn't stumble," answered Ned.
+
+"You won't know much about it if he does," called Tad over his shoulder.
+
+"Never mind.  We'll borrow an Indian basket to bring you home,"
+laughed Stacy in a comforting voice.
+
+The trail was the roughest and the most perilous they had ever essayed.
+The ponies were obliged to pick their way over rocks, around sharp,
+narrow corners, where the slightest misstep would send horse and rider
+crashing to the rocks hundreds of feet below.  But to the credit of the
+Pony Rider Boys it may be said that not one of them lost his head for
+an instant.
+
+"How did this trail ever get such a name?" asked Tad of the guide.
+
+"Yes, I don't see any signs of angels hereabouts," agreed Chunky.
+
+"You never will unless you mend your ways," flung back Nance.
+
+"Oh, I don't know.  There are others."
+
+"On the government maps this is called Cameron Trail, but it is best
+known by its original name, Bright Angel, named after Bright Angel creek
+which flows down the Canyon."
+
+"Where is Bright Angel Canyon?" asked Tad.
+
+"That's where the wild red men are hanging out," said Stacy.
+
+"That's some distance from here.  We shan't see it until some days
+later," replied the guide.  "This, in days long ago, was a Havasupai
+Indian trail.  You see those things that look like ditches?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Those were their irrigating canals.  They knew how to irrigate a long
+time before we understood its advantages.  Their canals conveyed large
+volumes of water from springs to the Indian Gardens beyond here.  Yonder
+is what is known as the Battleship Iowa," said the guide, pointing to
+the left to a majestic pile of red sandstone that capped the red wall of
+the Canyon.
+
+"Don't shoot," cried Stacy, ducking.
+
+"You'll be shooting down into the Colorado," warned Nance.  "You'd
+better watch out."
+
+The rock indicated did very much resemble a battleship.  The boys
+marveled at it.  Then a little further on they came upon a sandstone
+plateau from which they could look down into the Indian Garden,
+another plateau rich with foliage, green grass and a riot of flowers.
+It was like looking into a bit of the tropics.
+
+"Here is the worst piece of trail we have yet found," called Nance.
+"Go carefully," he directed when they reached the "blue lime."  For the
+next few minutes, until they had passed over this most dangerous portion,
+little was said.  The riders were too busy watching out for their own
+safety, the Professor, examining the different strata of rocks that so
+appeal to the geologist.  He was entranced with what he beheld about
+him.  Professor Zepplin had no time in which to enjoy being nervous.
+
+From there on to the Garden they rode more at ease in the "Boulder Bed,"
+where lay large blocks of rock of many shapes and sizes that had rolled
+from some upper strata.  Small shrubs and plants grew on every hand,
+many-hued lizards and inquisitive swifts darted across the trail, acting
+as if they resented the intrusion.
+
+Chunky regarded the lizards with disapproving eyes.  But his thoughts
+were interrupted by the voice of the guide pointing out the Temple of
+Isis that looks down six thousand feet into the dark depths of the
+inner abyss, surrounded by innumerable smaller buttes.  The wonderful
+colorings of the rocks did not suffer by closer inspection; in fact,
+the colors appeared to be even brighter than when viewed from the rim
+a few thousand feet above them.
+
+Indian Garden was a delight.  They wanted to tarry there, but were
+allowed to do so only long enough to permit horses and riders to
+refresh themselves with the cold water that trickled down through the
+canals from the springs far above.
+
+Reaching the end of Angel Plateau they gazed down a sheer descent of
+twelve hundred feet into the black depths of the inner gorge, where
+flowed the Colorado with a sullen roar that now was borne plainly to
+their ears.
+
+"It sounds as I have heard the rapids at Niagara do," declared Chunky
+somewhat ambiguously.
+
+"All off!" called the guide.
+
+"What's off?" demanded Chunky.
+
+"Dismount."
+
+"Is this as far as we go?" questioned Tad.
+
+"It is as far as we go on the pintos.  We have to climb down the rest
+of the way, and it's a climb for your life."
+
+The boys gazed down the wall to the river gorge.  The prospect did not
+look very inviting.
+
+"I guess maybe I'd better stay here and mind the 'tangs'," suggested
+Stacy, a remark that brought smiles to the faces of the other boys.
+
+"No, you'd be falling off if we left you here," declared Dad.  "You'll
+go along with us."
+
+Before starting on the final thousand feet of the descent the trappings
+were removed from the horses, after which the animals were staked down
+so that they might not in a moment of forgetfulness fall over the wall
+and be dashed to pieces on the rocks below.
+
+Dad got out his climbing ropes, the boys watching the preparations with
+keen interest.
+
+"Are you going down, Professor?" asked Tad smilingly.
+
+"Certainly I am going down.  I for one have no intention of remaining
+to watch the stock," with a grim glance in Chunky's direction.  Chunky
+saw fit to ignore the fling at him.  He was gazing off across the chasm
+at the Temple of Isis, which at that moment absorbed his full attention.
+
+"Now I guess we are ready," announced the guide finally.  "I will go
+first.  In places it will be necessary to cling to the rope.  Don't
+let go.  Then, in case you stumble, you won't get the nasty fall that
+you otherwise would be likely to get."
+
+Away up, just below the Indian Garden, they picked up the slender trail
+that led on down to the roaring river.  They had never had quite such a
+climb, either up or down.
+
+Every time they looked down they saw a possible fall upon rough,
+blade-like granite edges.
+
+"We'd be sausage meat if we landed on those," declared Chunky.
+
+"You are likely to go through the machine if you don't pay closer
+attention to your business," answered Dad.
+
+Carefully, cautiously, laboriously they lowered themselves one by one
+over the steep and slippery rocks, down, down for hundreds of feet until
+they stood on the ragged edge of nowhere, a direct drop of several
+hundred feet more before them.
+
+The guide knew a trail further on, so they crept along the smooth wall
+of the Canyon with scarcely room to plant their feet.  A misstep meant
+death.
+
+"Three hundred feet and we shall be there," came the encouraging voice
+of the guide.  "Half an hour more."
+
+"I could make it half a minute if I wanted to," said Stacy.  "But I
+don't want to.  I feel it my duty to stay and look after my friends."
+
+"Yes, your friends need you," answered Ned sarcastically.  "If they
+hadn't I never should have pulled you out of the hole in the crater."
+
+"I was just wondering how Chunky could resist the temptation of
+falling in here.  He'll never have a better opportunity for making a
+clean job of said Walter.
+
+"He has explained why," replied Tad.  "We need him.  Of course we do.
+We need him every hour-----"
+
+"And a half," added Ned.
+
+The roar of the river became louder as they descended.  Now they were
+obliged to raise their voices to make themselves heard.  The Professor
+was toiling and sweating, but making no complaint of the hardships.
+He was plucky, as game as any of those hardy boys for whom he was the
+companion, and they knew it.
+
+"Hold on here!" cried Stacy, halting.
+
+All turned to see what was wrong.
+
+"I want to know---I want to know before I take another step."
+
+"Well, what do you want to know?" demanded Tad.
+
+"If it's all this trouble to climb down, I want to know how in the name
+of Bright Angel Trail we're ever going to be able to climb up again!"
+
+"Fall up, of course," flung back the guide.  "You said this was
+mountain climbing backwards.  It'll be that way going back," chuckled
+the guide.
+
+"And I so delicate!" muttered the lad, gazing up the hundreds of feet
+of almost sheer precipice.  But ere the Pony Rider Boys scaled those
+rocks again they would pass through some experiences that were far from
+pleasurable ones.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+CHUNKY WANTS TO GO HOME
+
+
+Instead of a half hour, as had been prophesied, a full hour elapsed
+before they reached the bottom of the trail that was practically no trail
+at all.  Tad was sure that the guide couldn't find his way back over the
+same ground, or rather rock, to save his life, for the boy could find
+nothing that looked as if the foot of man had ever trodden upon it
+before.  He doubted if any one had been over that particular trail from
+the Garden on.
+
+As a matter of fact, Dad had led them into new fields.  But at last they
+stood upon the surer foundation of the bottom of the chasm.
+
+"Anyone needs to be a mountain goat to take that journey," said Tad, with
+a laugh.
+
+"No, a bird would be better," piped Stacy.
+
+"I'd rather be a bug, then I wouldn't have to climb," spoke up Walter.
+
+"Hurrah!  Walt's said something," shouted Ned.
+
+By this time Nance and the Professor had walked along, climbing over
+boulders, great blocks of stone that had tumbled from the walls above,
+making their way to the edge of the river.
+
+The others followed, talking together at the tops of their voices,
+laughing and joking.  They felt relieved that the terrible climb had
+come to an end.  As they approached the river, their voices died away.
+It was a sublime but terrifying spectacle that the Pony Rider Boys gazed
+upon.
+
+"This is more wonderful than Niagara," finally announced the Professor.
+"The rapids of the Niagara River would be lost in this turbid stream."
+
+Great knife-like rocks projected from the flood.  When the water struck
+these sharp edges it was cleanly cut, spurting up into the air like
+geysers, sending a rainbow spray for many yards on either side.
+
+What puzzled the lads more than all else were the great leaping waves
+that rose without apparent cause from spaces of comparatively calm
+water.  These upturning waves, the guide explained, were the terror of
+explorers who sought to get through the Canyon in boats.
+
+"Has any one ever accomplished it?" asked Tad.
+
+"Yes; that intrepid explorer, Major J.W. Powell, made the trip in the
+year 1869, one of the most thrilling voyages that man ever took.  Several
+of his men were lost; two who managed to escape below here were killed
+by the Indians."
+
+"I think I should like to try it," said Tad thoughtfully.
+
+"You won't, if I have anything to say about the matter," replied Dad
+shortly.
+
+"No one would imagine, to gaze down on this stream from the rim, that
+it was such a lively stretch of water," remarked the boy.  "It doesn't
+seem possible."
+
+"Yes, if they had some of this water up on the plateau it would be
+worth almost its weight in gold," declared Nance.  "Water is what
+Arizona needs and what it has precious little of.  Speaking of the
+danger of the river," continued Nance, "it isn't wholly the water, but
+the traveling boulders."
+
+"Traveling boulders!" exclaimed the boys.
+
+"Yes.  Boulders weighing perhaps a score or more of tons are rolled
+over and over down the river by the tremendous power of the water,
+almost with the force and speed of projectiles.  Now and again they
+will run against snags.  The water dashing along behind them is
+suddenly checked under the surface.  The result is a great up-wave,
+such as you have already observed.  They are just as likely to go
+downward or sideways as upward.  You never know."
+
+"Then that is the explanation of the cause of those up-waves?" asked
+the Professor.
+
+"That's the way we figure it out.  But we  may be wrong.  Take an old
+man's advice and don't monkey with the river."
+
+"I thought you said Dad's beloved Canyon would not hurt him," said Tad
+teasingly.
+
+"Dad's Canyon won't.  The river isn't Dad's The river is a demon.  The
+river would scream with delight were it to get Dad in its cruel
+clutches," answered the old man thoughtfully, his bristling whiskers
+drooping to his chest.  "Are you boys hungry?"
+
+The boys were.  So Dad sought out a comfortable place where they might
+sit down, a shelf some twenty feet above the edge of the river, whence
+they could see the turbulent stream for a short distance both ways.  It
+was a wonder to them where all the water came from.  The Professor
+called attention to his former statement that the river drained some
+three hundred thousand miles of territory.  This explanation made the
+matter clearer to them.
+
+Coffee was made, the ever-ready bacon quickly fried and there in the
+very heart of the Grand Canyon they ate their midday meal.  Never
+before had they sat down to a meal amid such tremendous forces.
+
+The meal having been finished and Dad having stretched himself out on
+a rock after his dinner, the boys strolled off along the river,
+exploring the various crevices.
+
+"Isn't there gold down here?" asked Tad, returning to the shelf.
+
+Dad sat up, stroking his whiskers thoughtfully.
+
+"I reckon you would find tons of it in the pockets of the river if she
+were to run dry," was the amazing reply.
+
+"But," protested Tad, "is there no way to get it?"
+
+"Not that man knows of.  The Almighty, who made the whole business here,
+is the only one who is engineer enough to get that gold.  No, sir, don't
+have any dreams about getting that gold.  It isn't for man, at least not
+yet.  Maybe He to whom it belongs is saving it for some other age, for
+folks who need it more than we do."
+
+"Nobody ever will need it more than we do," interposed Stacy.  "Why, just
+think, I could buy a whole stable full of horses with what I could get
+out of one of those pockets."
+
+"Maybe I'll show you where you can pan a little of the yellow out, before
+you finish your trip."
+
+Later in the day the guide decided that it was time to start for the
+surface again.  But the boys begged to be allowed to remain in the
+Canyon over night.  It was an experience that they felt sure would be
+worth while.  For a wonder, Professor Zepplin sided with them in this
+request.
+
+"Well, I'll go up and water the stock, then if you want to stay here,
+why, all right," decided Dad.
+
+"I will go with you," said Tad.
+
+"Professor, I'll leave the rest of the boys in your charge.  Don't let
+them monkey with the river.  I don't want to lose anybody this trip.
+Fall in there, and you'll bring up in the Pacific Ocean---what's left
+of you will.  Nothing ever'll stop you till you've hit the Sandwich
+Islands or some other heathen country."
+
+The boys promised and so did the Professor, and both men knew the lads
+would keep their word, for by this time they held that stream in
+wholesome respect.
+
+Chunky, after the guide and Tad had left, perched himself on the point
+of a rock where he lifted up his voice in "Where the Silvery Colorado
+Wends Its Way," Ned Rector occupying his time by shying rocks at the
+singer, but Chunky finished his song and had gotten half way through it
+a second time before one of Ned's missiles reached him.  That put an
+end to the song and brought on a rough and tumble fight in which Ned
+and Stacy were the sole participants.  Chunky, of course, got the worst
+of it.  The two combatants locked arms and strolled away down the river
+bank after Chunky had been sufficiently punished for trying to sing.
+
+Night in the canyon was an experience.  The roaring of the river which
+no longer could be seen was almost terrifying.  Then, too, a strange
+weird moaning sounded all about them.  Dad, who had returned, explained
+that it was supposed to be the wind.  He confided to Tad that it was
+the spirit of the Canyon uttering its warning.
+
+"Warning of what?"
+
+"I don't know.  Maybe a storm.  But you can believe something's going
+to come off, kid," answered Nance with emphasis.
+
+Something did come off.  Tad and Nance had fetched the blankets of the
+party back with them, together with two large bundles of wood for the
+camp fire, which materials they had let down from point to point at the
+end of their ropes.  Tad had learned always to carry his lasso at his
+belt.  It was the most useful part of his equipment.  He had gotten
+the other boys into the habit of doing the same.  Rifles had been left
+in the camp above, as they were a burden in climbing down the rocks.
+But all hands carried their heavy revolvers.
+
+A very comfortable camping place was located Under an overhanging shelf
+of rock, the camp fire just outside lighting up the chamber in a most
+cheerful manner.  There after supper the party sat listening to Dad's
+stories of the Canyon during some of his thirty years' experience with
+it.
+
+The wind was plainly rising.  It drew the flames of the fire first in
+one direction, then in another.  Nance regarded the signs questioningly.
+After a little he got up and strolled out to the edge of the roaring
+river.  Tad and Chunky followed him.
+
+"We are going to have a storm," said Dad.
+
+"A heavy one?" asked Tad.
+
+"A regular hummer!"
+
+"Rain?"
+
+"Everything.  The whole thing.  I'm sorry now that we didn't go back up
+the trail, but maybe we'd never got up before we were caught.  However,
+we're pretty safe down here, unless-----"
+
+"Unless what?" piped Chunky.
+
+"Unless we get wet," answered Nance, though Tad knew that was not what
+was in the guide's mind.
+
+Just as they were turning back to the camp there came an explosion that
+seemed as if the walls of the Canyon had been rent in twain.  Chunky
+uttered a yell and leaped straight up into the air.  Tad took firm hold
+of the fat boy's arm.
+
+"Don't be a fool.  That was thunder and lightning.  The lightning struck
+somewhere in the Canyon.  Isn't that it, Dad?"
+
+Nance nodded.
+
+"It's always doing that.  It's been plugging away at Dad's Canyon for
+millions of years, but the Canyon is doing business at the same old
+stand.  I hope those pintos are all right up there," added the guide
+anxiously.
+
+"Mebby they're struck," suggested Stacy.
+
+"Mebby they are," replied Nance.  "Come, we'll be getting back unless
+you want to get wet."
+
+A dash of rain followed almost instantly upon the words.  The three
+started at a trot for the camp.  They found the Professor and his two
+companions anxiously awaiting their return.
+
+"That was a severe bolt," said the Professor.
+
+"Always sounds louder down here, you know," replied Dad.  "Echoes."
+
+"Yes, I understand."
+
+"Is---is it going to rain?" questioned Walter.
+
+"No, it's going to pour," returned Chunky.  "You'll need your rubber
+boots before long."
+
+"Move that camp fire in further," directed Nance.  "It'll be drowned out
+in a minute."
+
+This was attended with some difficulty, but in a few minutes they had
+the fire burning brightly under the ledge.  Then the rain began.  It
+seemed to be a cloudburst instead of a rain.  Lightning was almost
+incessant, the reports like the bombardment of a thousand batteries of
+artillery, even the rocks trembling and quaking.  Chunky's face grew
+pale.
+
+"Say, I want to go home," he cried.
+
+"Trot right along.  There's nothing to stop ye," answered the guide
+sarcastically.
+
+"Afraid?" questioned Ned jeeringly.
+
+"No, I'm not afraid.  Just scared stiff, that's all," retorted the fat
+boy.
+
+The shelf of rock that sheltered them had now become the base of a
+miniature Niagara Falls.  The water was pouring over it in tons, making
+a roaring sound that made that of the river seem faint and far away.
+
+Jim Nance was plainly worried.  Tad Butler saw this and so did the
+Professor, but neither mentioned the fact.  Their location was no
+longer dry.  The spray from the waterfall had drenched them to the
+skin.  No one complained.  They were too used to hardships.
+
+All at once there came a report louder and different from the others,
+followed by a crashing, a thundering, a quaking of the rocks beneath
+their feet, that sent the blood from the face of every man in the
+party.  Even Dad's face grayed ever so little.
+
+The next second each one was thrown violently to the ground.  A sound
+was in their ears as if the universe had blown up.
+
+"We're killed!" howled Chunky.
+
+"Help, help!" yelled Walter Perkins.
+
+"What---what is it?" roared the Professor.
+
+"We're struck!" shouted Tad.
+
+"Lie still.  Hug the wall!" bellowed the stentorian voice of Jim Nance,
+who himself had crept closer to the Canyon wall and lay hugging it
+tightly.
+
+The deafening, terrifying reports continued.  One corner of the ledge
+over their heads split off, sending a volley of stones showering over
+them, leaving the faces of some of the party flecked with blood where
+the jagged particles had cut into their flesh.
+
+It was a terrible moment for the Pony Rider Boys.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+ESCAPE IS WHOLLY CUT OFF
+
+
+Not one could collect his thoughts sufficiently to reason out what had
+taken place.  The guide, however, had known from the first.  He feared
+that his charges would be killed, but there was nothing more that he
+could do.
+
+The bombarding continued, some explosions sounding near at hand, others
+further down or up the Canyon, but each of sufficient force to send
+shivers up and down the spines of the Pony Rider Boys.  They never had
+experienced anything approaching this.
+
+"I'm going to stand up," declared Tad, rising to his feet.  "I won't
+be killed any quicker standing than lying down.  Besides, I don't like
+to shirk."
+
+"Stand up if you want to, but keep close to the wall," ordered Dad,
+himself rising to his feet.
+
+One by one the boys got up, Professor Zepplin following the example of
+the guide.  They had to shout in speaking in order to make themselves
+heard above the bombardment, the roaring of the river and the cataract
+over their heads.
+
+"What is going on up there?" shouted Tad.
+
+"Mountain falling in!"
+
+"I knew it! I knew it!" yelled Chunky.  "I knew something would fall
+down as soon as I got here."
+
+No one laughed.  The situation was too serious for laughter.
+
+"Is it a land or a rock slide?" questioned Tad further.
+
+"Both," shouted Nance.  "Mostly boulders."
+
+The rain has loosened them and they are raining down on us.  We're lucky
+we had this shelf to get under."
+
+"From the present outlook I am afraid the shelf isn't going to protect
+us much longer," said Tad.
+
+"Keep close to the wall and you will be all right.  It won't break off
+short up to the wall.  I've seen rock slides, but never anything quite
+like this.  You see, the spirit of the Canyon was right," nodded Nance.
+
+"Spirits?  What spirits?" demanded Chunky.  "Is this place haunted?
+Don't tell me it is.  Haven't I got enough to worry me already without
+being chased by ghosts?
+
+"Chased by goats?" shouted the Professor.
+
+"Who said anything about goats?" retorted Stacy.  "I said g-h-o-s-t-s,
+spooks, spookees or spookors or whatever you've a mind to call them."
+
+"Oh, I hope you are not losing your mind, Stacy."
+
+"Might as well lose my mind as to lose my life.  Mind wouldn't be any
+use to me after I was dead, would it?"
+
+"The storm is dying out," called Ned.
+
+Tad started to step from under the shelf, Nance grasped and hauled him
+back.  Just then a great boulder, weighing many tons, struck the rock
+just above their heads, then bounded off into the river, which it
+struck with a mighty splash.  The contact with the rocks sent off a
+shower of sparks, a perfect rain of them.
+
+"I---I guess I need a guardian," said the lad rather weakly.
+
+"Yes, you probably would have been killed by the smaller pieces that
+broke off," answered Nance.  "Be content to stay where you are."
+
+"How long have we got to stay cooped up in this half cave?" demanded
+Stacy.
+
+"All night, maybe," answered Dad.
+
+"Good night!" said the fat boy, Slipping down until he had assumed a
+sitting posture.  He lay down and was asleep in a short time.  Stacy
+woke with a start when another giant rock smote the wall just above
+their cave, exploding into thousands of pieces from the violent contact.
+
+"Stop that noise!  How do you suppose a fellow's going to sleep
+when-----"
+
+Stacy struggled slowly to his feet when he saw the drawn faces of his
+companions.
+
+"Was that another of them?" he asked hesitatingly.
+
+"Yes," answered Tad, with a nod.  "It is grand, but terrible."
+
+"I don't see anything grand about it.  I guess I won't lie down again.
+I never can sleep any more after being awakened from my first nap,"
+declared the fat boy.
+
+No one slept for the rest of the night.  The bombardment continued at
+intervals all through the black, terrifying night.  The Colorado, into
+which billions of gallons of water had been dumped, was rising rapidly,
+an angry, threatening flood.
+
+"Is there any danger of the river overflowing on us?" asked Professor
+Zepplin.
+
+"No.  No single night's rain would do it.  The rain is pretty nearly
+ended now, as you can see for yourself.  But there's no telling how long
+those fellows will continue to roll down.  I've seen the same thing
+before, but this is the worst," declared Dad.
+
+"All on account of the Pony Rider Boys," piped Stacy.  "Miss Nature
+is determined to give us our money's worth in experience.  I've had
+mine already.  She can't quit any too soon to suit me."
+
+After a time the guide crept out, his ears keyed sharply to catch
+warning sounds from above.  Nance had been out but a moment when he
+darted back under the protecting ledge.  He was just in time.  A giant
+boulder struck the earth right in front of their place of refuge.  From
+that moment on no one ventured out.  About an hour before daylight, the
+storm having lulled, the failing boulders coming down with less
+frequency, all hands sank down on their wet blankets one by one, and
+dropped off to sleep.
+
+When they awakened the day had dawned.  The sun was glowing on the peaks
+of Pluto Pyramid and the Algonkin Terraces far above them on the opposite
+side of the gorge.  Tad Butler was the first to open his eyes that
+morning.  He sprang up with a shout.
+
+"Sleepy heads! Turn out!"
+
+Dad was on his feet with a bound.  Then came the Professor, Ned and
+Walter in the order named, with Stacy Brown limping along painfully at
+the rear.
+
+"How do you feel this fine morning?" glowed Tad, nodding at Stacy.
+
+"I?  Oh, I'm all bunged up.  How's the weather?"
+
+"Nature is smiling," answered Tad.
+
+"All right.  As long as she doesn't grin, I won't kick.  If she grins
+I'm blest if I'll stand for it."
+
+"Whose turn is it to get breakfast?" questioned Ned.
+
+"What little there is to get I will attend to," said Tad.  "We are long
+on experience but short on food."
+
+Still, breakfast was a cheerful meal, even though all were still wet,
+their muscles stiffened from sleeping in puddles, from which they were
+obliged to dip the water for their coffee.  They enjoyed the meal just
+as much as if it had been a banquet, however.
+
+Dad's face did not reflect the general joy that was apparent on the
+faces of the others.  Tad observed this, but made no comment.  Finally
+Stacy Brown discovered something of the sort, too.
+
+"Dad, you've got a grouch on this lovely morning," said Stacy.
+
+"No, I never have a grouch."
+
+"Your whiskers are rising.  I thought you had."
+
+"I'd rather have my whiskers standing out some of the time than to have
+my tongue hanging out all of the time," replied the guide witheringly.
+
+"I guess that will be about all for you, Chunky," jeered Ned.
+
+"Do we start as soon as we have finished here?" asked the Professor of
+Nance.
+
+"We do not," was the brief reply.
+
+"May I ask why not?"
+
+"Because we can't start."
+
+"Can't?" wondered Professor Zepplin.
+
+Tad saw that something was wrong.  What that something was he had not
+the remotest idea.
+
+"No, we won't go up Bright Angel Trail to-day."
+
+"Why not?  Why won't we?" piped Stacy.
+
+"Because there isn't any Bright Angel Trail to go up," returned the
+guide grimly.  "The bad place in the trail was all torn out by the
+ripping boulders last night.  Nothing short of a bird could make its
+way over that stretch of trail now."
+
+"Then what are we going to do?" cried the Professor.
+
+"Do?  We're going to stay here.  Escape is for the present wholly cut
+off-----"
+
+"Can't we climb up a trail lower down?" asked Ned.
+
+"Ain't no trail this side of the wall by the river, and the river is
+just as bad as the wall.  I reckon we'll stay here for a time at least."
+
+The Pony Rider Boys looked at each other solemnly.  Theirs was, indeed,
+a serious predicament, much more so than they realized.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+A TRYING TIME
+
+
+For a moment following the announcement no one spoke.
+
+The Professor gazed straight into the stern face of the guide, whose
+whiskers were still drooping.
+
+"We are prisoners here?  Is that it, Nance?" stammered Professor Zepplin.
+
+"That's about it, I reckon.  The trail's busted.  There ain't no other
+way to get out that I know of and I reckon I know these canyons pretty
+well."
+
+"Then what shall we do?"
+
+"Well, I reckon we'll wait till somebody misses us and comes down
+after us."
+
+"Oh, well, they will do that this morning.  Of course they will miss
+us," declared the Professor, as if the matter were entirely settled.
+
+The expression on Dad's face plainly showed that he was not quite so
+confident as was the Professor.  There was one factor that Professor
+Zepplin had not taken into consideration.  Food!  There was barely
+enough left for a meal for one person.  Dad surmised this, so he asked
+Tad just how much food they had left.
+
+"Our supply," said Tad, "consists of three biscuit, one orange and two
+lemons."
+
+The boys groaned.
+
+"I'll take the biscuit.  You can have the rest," was Chunky's liberal
+offer.  "How about it?"
+
+"You will get a lemon handed to you at twelve o'clock noon to-day,"
+jeered Ned Rector.
+
+"Then I'll pass it along to the one who needs it the most," retorted
+Stacy quickly.
+
+"The question is," said the Professor, "is there nothing that we can do
+to attract the attention of others?"
+
+"I have been thinking of that," answered Nance.  "I wish now that we had
+brought our rifles."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"To shoot and attract attention of whoever may be on the rim."
+
+"We might shoot our revolvers," suggested Tad.
+
+"We will do that.  It is doubtful if the reports can be heard above, and
+even then I am doubtful about any of the tenderfeet understanding what
+the shots mean.  About our only hope is that some one who knows will
+come down the trail.  They won't go further than the Gardens, but
+finding our mustangs there a mountaineer would understand."
+
+"Shall I take a shot?" asked Walter.
+
+"Yes."
+
+Walter fired five shots into the river.  After an interval Chunky let
+go five more.  This continued until each had fired a round of five
+shots.  After each round they listened for an answering shot from
+above, but none came.  Thus matters continued until noon, when the
+remaining food was distributed among the party.
+
+"This is worse than nothing," cried Chunky.  "This excites my appetite.
+If you see me frothing at the mouth don't think I've got a dog bite.
+That's my appetite fighting with my stomach.  I'll bet my gun that the
+appetite wins too."
+
+The day wore away slowly.  Tad made frequent trips down the river as
+far as he could get before being stopped by a great wall of rock that
+rose abruptly for nearly a thousand feet above him.  He gazed up this
+glittering expanse of rock until his neck ached, then he went back to
+camp.  An idea was working in Tad's mind, but it was as yet undeveloped.
+
+At intervals the shots were tried again, though no reply followed.  Night
+came on.  Before dark Dad had gathered some driftwood that he found in
+crevices of the rocks.  The wood was almost bone dry and a crackling,
+cheerful fire was soon burning.
+
+"If we only had something to eat now, we'd be all right," said Walter
+mournfully.
+
+"You want something to eat?" questioned Chunky.
+
+"I should say I do."
+
+"Oh, well, that's easily fixed."
+
+Stacy stepped over to a rock, made a motion as if ringing a telephone
+bell, then listened.
+
+"Hello! hello!  Is that the hotel, El Tovar Hotel?  Very well; this
+is Brown.  Brown!  Yes.  Well, we want you to send out dinner for six.
+Six!  Can't you understand plain English?  Yes, six.  Oh, well, I
+think we'll have some porter house steak smothered in onions.  Smothered!
+We'll have some corn cakes and honey, some--some---um---some baked
+potatoes, about four quarts of strawberries.  And by the way, got any
+apple pie?  Yes?  Well, you might send down a half dozen pies and-----"
+
+Chunky got no further.  With a howl, Ned Rector, Tad Butler and Walter
+Perkins made a concerted rush for him.
+
+Ned fell upon the unfortunate fat boy first.  Stacy went down in a heap
+with Ned jamming his head into the dirt that had been washed up by the
+river at flood time.  A moment more and Ned was at the bottom of the
+heap with Stacy, the other two boys having piled on top.
+
+"Here, here!" shouted the Professor.
+
+"Let 'em scrap," grinned Dad.  "They'll forget they're hungry."
+
+They did.  After the heap had been unpiled, the boys got up, their
+clothes considerably the worse for the conflict, their faces red, but
+smiling and their spirits considerably higher.
+
+"You'll get worse than that if you tantalize us in that way again,"
+warned Tad.  "We can stand for your harmless jokes, but this is
+cruel-----"
+
+"---ty to animals," finished Chunky.
+
+"What you'll get will make you sure of that."
+
+"Come over here and get warm, Brown," called the guide.
+
+"Oh, he's warmed sufficiently," laughed Tad.  "We have attended to that.
+He won't get chills to-night, I promise you."
+
+Breathing hard, their eyes glowing, the boys squatted down around the
+camp fire.  No sooner had they done so than a thrilling roar sounded
+off somewhere in a canyon to their right, the roar echoing from rock
+to rock, from canyon to canyon, dying away in the far distance.
+
+"For goodness' sake, what is that?" gasped Stacy.
+
+"Mountain lion," answered the guide shortly.
+
+"Can---can he get here?" stammered Walter.
+
+"He can if he wants to."
+
+"I---I hope he changes his mind if he does want to," breathed Stacy.
+
+"I wish we had our rifles," muttered Ned.
+
+"What for?" demanded Dad.
+
+"To shoot lions, of course."
+
+"Humph!"
+
+"Couldn't we have a lion hunt while we are out here?" asked Tad
+enthusiastically.
+
+"You could if the lion didn't hunt you."
+
+"Wouldn't that be great, fellows?" cried Tad.  "The Pony Rider Boys as
+lion hunters."
+
+"Great," chorused the boys.  "When shall it be?" added Ned.
+
+"It won't be till after we get out of this hole," declared Dad.  "And
+from present indications, that won't be to-night."
+
+"Tell us something about the lions," urged Walter.  "Are they ugly?"
+
+"Well, they ain't exactly household pets," answered the guide, with
+a faint smile.
+
+"Is it permitted to hunt them?" interjected the Professor.
+
+"Yes, there's no law against it.  The lions kill the deer and the
+government is glad to be rid of the lions.  But you won't get enough
+of them to cause a flurry in the lion market."
+
+"No, there's more probability of there being a panic in the Pony Rider
+market," chuckled Tad.
+
+"I'm not afraid," cried Stacy.
+
+"No, Chunky isn't afraid," jeered Ned.  "He doesn't want to go home
+when the marbles roll down from the mountain!  Oh, no, he isn't afraid!
+He's just looking for dangerous sport."
+
+Their repartee was interrupted by another roar, louder than the first.
+But though they listened for a long time there was no repetition of the
+disturbing roar of the king of the canyons.
+
+Soon after that the lads went to bed.  Tonight they slept soundly, for
+they had had little sleep the previous night, as the reader knows.
+When they awakened on the following morning the conditions had not
+changed.  They were still prisoners in the Grand Canyon not far from
+the foot of Bright Angel Trail.  All hands awoke to the consciousness
+that unless something were done, and at once, they would find themselves
+face to face with starvation.  It was not a cheerful prospect.
+
+There was no breakfast that morning, though Chunky, who had picked
+up a cast-away piece of orange peel, was munching it with great
+satisfaction, rolling his eyes from one to the other of his companions.
+
+"Don't.  You might excite your appetite again," warned Ned.
+
+Tad, who had been out for another exploring tour along the river, had
+returned, walking briskly.
+
+"Well, did you find a trail?" demanded Chunky.
+
+"No, but I have found a way out of this hole," answered Tad, with
+emphasis.
+
+"What?" exclaimed Dad, whirling on him almost savagely.
+
+"Yes, I have found a way.  I'm going to carry out a plan and I promise
+that with good luck I'll get you all out of here safely.  I shall need
+some help, but the thing can be done, I know."
+
+"What is your plan?" asked the Professor.
+
+"I'll tell you," said Tad.  "But don't interrupt me, please, until I
+have finished."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+BRAVING THE ROARING COLORADO
+
+
+The Pony Riders drew closer, Dad leaned against the rocky wall of the
+Canyon, while the Professor peered anxiously into the lad's face.
+
+"I'll bet it's a crazy plan," muttered Stacy.
+
+"We will hear what you have to say and decide upon its feasibility
+afterwards," announced the Professor.
+
+"Mr. Nance, if a man were below the horseshoe down the Canyon there, he
+would be able to make his way over to the Bright Angel Trail, would
+he not?"
+
+"Yes.  A fellow who knew how to climb among the rocks could make it."
+
+"He could get right over on our own trail, could he not?"
+
+"Sure! But what good would that do us?"
+
+"Couldn't he let down ropes and get us out?"
+
+"I reckon he could at that."
+
+"You don't think we are going to be discovered here until perhaps it is
+too late, do you, Mr. Nance?"
+
+"We always have hopes.  There being nothing we can do, the only thing
+for us is to sit down and hope."
+
+"And starve?  No, thank you.  Not for mine!"
+
+"Nor mine.  It's time we men did something," declared Stacy pompously.
+
+"As I have had occasion to remark before, children should be seen and
+not heard," asserted Ned Rector.
+
+"Kindly be quiet.  We are listening to Master Tad," rebuked the
+Professor.  "Go ahead, Tad."
+
+"There isn't much to say, except that I propose to get on the other
+side of the horseshoe and climb back over the rocks to our trail.  If I
+am fortunate enough to get there the rest will be easy and I'll have
+you up in a short time.  How about it, Dad?" asked the boy lightly,
+as if his proposal were nothing out of the ordinary.
+
+Dad took a few steps forward.
+
+"How do ye propose to get across that stretch of water there to reach
+the other side of the horseshoe?"
+
+"Swim it, of course."
+
+The guide laughed harshly.
+
+"Swim it?  Why, kid a boat wouldn't live in that boiling pot for two
+minutes.  What could a mere man hope to do against that demon?"
+
+"It is my opinion that a man would do better for a few moments against
+the water than a boat would.  I think I can do it."
+
+"No, if anybody does that kind of a trick it will be Jim Nance."
+
+"Do you swim?"
+
+"Like a chunk of marble.  Living on the plains all a fellow's life
+doesn't usually make a swimmer of him."
+
+"I thought so.  That makes me all the more determined to do this thing."
+
+"Somebody hold me or I'll be doing it myself," cried Chunky.
+
+No one paid any attention to the fat boy's remark.
+
+"I can't permit it, Tad," said the Professor, with an emphatic shake of
+the head.  "No, you could never make it.  It would be suicide."
+
+"I'm going to try it," insisted the Pony Rider.
+
+"You most certainly are not."
+
+"But there is little danger.  Don't you see I should be floating down
+with the current.  Almost before I knew it I should be on the other
+side of the horseshoe there.  Besides you would have hold of the rope."
+
+"Rope?" demanded Dad.
+
+"Yes, of course."
+
+"Where are you going to get ropes?  They're all up there on the
+mountainside."
+
+"We still have our lassoes."
+
+"Explain.  I don't understand," urged Professor Zepplin.
+
+"It is my plan to tie the lassoes together.  We have six of them.  That
+will make nearly two hundred feet.  One or two of you can take hold of
+the free end of the rope, the other end being about my waist.  In case
+I should be carried away from the shore, why all you have to do will
+be to haul me back.  Isn't that a simple proposition?"
+
+"It's a crazy one," nodded the Professor.
+
+"Come to think it over, I believe it could be done," reflected Nance.
+"If I could swim at all I'd do it myself, but I'd drown inside of
+thirty seconds after I stepped a foot in the water.  Why, I nearly
+drown every time I wash for breakfast."
+
+Stacy was about to make a remark, but checked himself.  It was evidently
+not a seemly remark.  It must have been more than ordinarily flippant
+to have caused Chunky to restrain himself.
+
+"I move we let Tad try it, Professor," proposed Ned.
+
+"I don't approve of it at all.  No, sir, I most emphatically do not."
+
+"But surely, Professor, there can be no danger in it at all.  It is
+very simple," urged young Butler.
+
+Tad knew better.  It was not a simple thing to do.  It was distinctly a
+perilous, if not a foolhardy feat.  Nance knew this, too, but he had
+grown to feel a great confidence in Tad Butler.  He believed that if
+anyone could brave those swirling waters and come out alive, that one
+was Tad Butler.  But it was a desperate chance.  Still, with the rope
+tied around the lad's waist, it was as the boy had said, they could
+haul him back quickly.
+
+"Professor, I am in favor of letting him try it if he is a good
+swimmer," announced the guide.
+
+"Pshaw, you couldn't drown Tad," declared Ned.
+
+"No, you couldn't drown Tad," echoed Chunky.  "Not any more than you
+could drown me."
+
+"Perhaps you would like to try it yourself?" grinned Nance.
+
+"Yes, I can hardly hold myself.  I am afraid every minute that I'll jump
+right into that raging flood there and strike out for the other side of
+the horseshoe," returned Stacy, striking a diving attitude.
+
+They laughed, but as quickly sobered.  Tad was already at work making
+firm splices in the two ropes that he held in his hand.
+
+"Pass over your ropes, boys.  We have no time to lose.  The river is
+getting higher every minute now, and there's no telling what condition
+it will be in an hour from now."
+
+The others passed over their ropes, some willingly enough, others with
+reluctance.  Tad spliced them together, tested each knot with all his
+strength and nodded his approval.
+
+"I guess they will hold now," he said, stripping off his coat after
+having thrown his hat aside and tossed off his cartridge belt and
+revolver.
+
+"Walt, you take care of those things for me, please, and in case I get
+you folks out, fetch them up with you."
+
+Walter Perkins nodded as he picked up the belongings of his chum.
+
+"Mr. Nance," said Tad, "I think you and Ned are the strongest, so I'll
+ask you two to take hold of the rope when I get started.  If you need
+help the Professor will lend a hand."
+
+Professor Zepplin shook his head.  He did not approve of this at all.
+However, it seemed their only hope.  Tad started for the lower end of
+the walled-in enclosure, the others following him.  The lad made the
+rope fast around his waist, twisting it about so that the knot was on
+the small of his back.  Thus the rope would not interfere with his
+swimming.  He then uncoiled the rope, stretching it along the ground to
+make sure that there were no kinks in it.
+
+"There, everything appears to be in working order.  Don't you envy me
+my fine swim, boys?" Tad laughed cheerfully.
+
+"Yes, we do," chorused the boys.
+
+It must not be thought that Tad Butler did not fully realize the peril
+into which he was so willingly going.  He knew there was a big chance
+against his ever making his goal, but he was willing to take the slender
+remaining chance that he might make it.
+
+"All ready," he said coolly.
+
+Dad and Ned took hold of the rope.
+
+"Don't hold on to it at all unless I shout to you to do so.  I must be
+left free.  Let me be the judge if I am to be hauled back or not."
+
+With a final glance behind, to see that all was in readiness, Tad
+stepped to the edge of the water.  Chunky pressed up close to him.
+
+"Is there any last request that you want me to make to relatives or
+friends, Tad?" asked the fat boy solemnly.
+
+"Tell them to be good to my Chunky, for he's such a tender plant that
+he will perish unless he has the most loving care.  Here I go!"
+
+With a wave of his hand, Tad plunged into the swirling waters.  Though
+his plunge was seen, the sound of it was borne down by the thunderous
+roar of the river.  As Butler vanished it was as though he had gone to
+his instant doom.
+
+Instinctively the two men holding the rope tightened their grip,
+beginning to haul in.  But Tad's head showed and they eased off again.
+
+Just a few moments more, and Tad was seized by the waters and hurled up
+into the air.
+
+"He jumps like a bass," chuckled Chunky.
+
+"Quit that talk!" ordered Ned sharply.  "Poor Tad, we've let him go to
+a hopeless death!"
+
+All watched Tad breathlessly---whenever they could see him.  More often
+the boy was invisible to those on land.
+
+A strong swimmer, and an intelligent one, Tad had more than found his
+match in these angry, cruel waters.  Though the current was in the
+direction that he wanted to go, the eddies seemed bent on dragging him
+out to the middle of the stream, where he must be most helpless of all.
+
+Tad was fighting with all the strength that remained to him when an
+up-wave met him, caught him and hurled him back fully ten feet.  Butler
+now found his feet entangled in the rope.
+
+"He's having a fearful battle!" gasped Walter, whose face had gone
+deathly pale.
+
+Professor Zepplin nodded, unable to speak.  By a triumph of strength,
+backed by his cool head and keen judgment, Tad brought himself out of
+this dangerous pocket of water, only to meet others.  His strength
+seemed to be failing now.
+
+"Haul him back!" ordered the Professor hoarsely.  "Haul him back!"
+
+They tried, but at that moment the rope parted---sawed in two over a
+sharp edge of rock!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+A BATTLE MIGHTILY WAGED
+
+
+The land end of the rope fell limp in the hands of Jim Nance and Ned
+Rector.
+
+"It's gone---gone!" wailed Ned.
+
+"That settles him," answered the guide in a hopeless tone.
+
+"Oh, he's lost, he's lost!" cried Walter.  "Can no one do anything?"
+
+Chunky, with sudden determination, threw off his coat, and started on a
+run for the river.  Dodging the Professor's outstretched hands, Chunky
+sprang into the water.
+
+With a roar Dad hurled the rope toward the fat boy.  The guide had no
+time in which to fashion a loop, but he had thrown the rope doubled.
+Fortunately the coil caught Chunky's right foot and the lad was hauled
+back feet first, choking, half drowned, his head being dragged under
+water despite his struggles to get free.
+
+The instant they hauled him to the bank the Professor seized the lad
+and began shaking him.
+
+"Leggo! Lemme go, I tell you.  I'm going after Tad!"
+
+Stacy Brown was terribly in earnest this time.  He was fighting mad
+because they had pulled him back from what would have been sure death
+to him.  They had never given Stacy credit for such pluck, and Ned and
+Walter gazed at him with new interest in their eyes.  It was necessary
+to hold the fat boy.  He was still struggling, determined to go to
+Tad's rescue.
+
+In the meantime their attention had been drawn from Tad for the moment.
+When they looked again they failed to find him.
+
+"There he is," shouted Ned, as the boy was seen to rise from the water
+and plunge head foremost into it again.  Tad did not appear to be
+fighting now.
+
+"He's helpless!  He's hurt!" cried the Professor.
+
+"I reckon that's about the end of the lad," answered Nance in a low
+tone.  "There's nothing we can do but to wait."
+
+"I see him again!" shouted Walter.
+
+They could see the lad being tumbled this way and that, hurled first
+away from the shore, then on toward it.  Nance was regarding the
+buffeted Pony Rider keenly.  He saw that Tad was really nearing the
+shore, but that he was helpless.
+
+"What has happened to him?" demanded the Professor hoarsely.  "Is he
+drowned?"
+
+"It's my opinion that he has been banged against a rock and knocked
+out.  I can't tell what'll be the end of it, but it looks mighty bad.
+There he goes, high and dry!" fairly screamed Dad, while his whiskers
+tilted upwards at a sharp angle.
+
+Tad had been hurled clear of the water, hurled to the dry rocks on which
+he had been flung as if the river wanted no more of him.  The watchers
+began to shout.  They danced about almost beside themselves with anxiety.
+No one could go to Tad's assistance, if, indeed, he were not beyond
+assistance.
+
+A full twenty minutes of this nerve-racking anxiety had passed when Dad
+thought he saw a movement of Tad's form.  A few moments later the boy
+was seen to struggle to a sitting posture, where he sat for a short
+time, both hands supporting his head.
+
+Such a yell as the Pony Rider Boys uttered might have been heard clear
+up on the rim of the Grand Canyon had there been any one there to hear
+it.  Dad danced a wild hornpipe, the Professor strode up and down,
+first thrusting his hands into his pockets, then withdrawing and waving
+them above his head.  Stacy had settled down on the rocks with the
+tears streaming down his cheeks.  Stacy wasn't joking now.  This
+emotion was real.
+
+They began to shout out Tad's name.  It was plain that he heard them,
+for he waved a listless hand then returned to his former position.
+
+"That boy is all iron," breathed the admiring guide.
+
+The noise of the river was so great that they could not ask him if he
+were hurt seriously.  But Tad answered the question himself a few
+minutes later by getting up.  He stood for a moment swaying as if he
+would fall over again, then staggered to the wall, against which he
+leaned, still holding his head.
+
+"He must have got an awful wallop," declared Dad.
+
+Shortly after that Tad appeared to have recovered somewhat, for he was
+seen to be gazing up over the rocks, apparently trying to choose a
+route for himself.
+
+"How can he ever make that dizzy climb in his condition?" groaned the
+Professor.
+
+"We'll see.  I think he can do anything," returned Nance.
+
+Tad walked back and forth a few times, exercising his muscles, then
+turned toward the rocks which he began to climb.  He proceeded slowly
+and with great caution, evidently realizing the peril of his undertaking,
+but taking no greater chances than he was obliged to do.
+
+Little by little he worked his way upward, Now and then halting, clinging
+to the rocks for support while he rested.  After a time he looked down
+at his companions.  Nance waved a hand, signaling Tad to turn to the
+right.  Tad saw and understood the signal and acted accordingly.
+
+Once he stood up and gazed off over the rugged peaks, sharp knife-like
+edges and sheer wails before him.  There seemed not sufficient foothold
+for a bird where he was standing, and though a thousand feet above the
+river, he seemed not to feel the height at all nor to be in the least
+dizzy.
+
+It was dangerous work, exhausting work; but oh! what self-reliance, what
+pluck and levelheadedness was Tad Butler displaying.  Had he never
+accomplished anything worth while in his life, those who saw him now
+could but admire the lad's wonderful courage.
+
+They hung upon his movements, scarcely breathing at all, as little by
+little the lad crept along, now swinging by his hands from one ledge
+to another, now creeping around a sharp bend on hand and knees, now
+hanging with nothing more secure than thin air underneath him, with face
+flattened against a rock, resting.  It was a sight to thrill and to
+make even strong men shiver.
+
+For a long time Tad disappeared from view.  The watchers did not know
+where he had gone, but Nance explained that he had crept around the
+opposite side of the butte where he had last been seen, hoping to
+discover better going there, which Jim was of the opinion he would find.
+
+This proved to be the case when after what seemed an interminable time,
+the Pony Rider once more appeared, creeping steadily on toward the
+trail above the broken spot.
+
+This went on for the greater part of two hours.
+
+"He's safe.  Thank God!" cried the guide.
+
+The Pony Rider Boys whooped.
+
+"You stay here!" directed the guide.  Nance began clambering up the
+rocky trail to a point from which he would be able to talk to the boy.
+Arriving at this spot, Dad waited.  At last Tad appeared, dragging
+himself along.
+
+"Good boy! Fine boy!  Dad's Canyon is proud of you, boy!"
+
+Tad sank down, shaking his head, breathing hard, as the guide could
+see, even at that distance.  After a time Tad recovered his wind
+sufficiently to be able to talk.
+
+"What happened to you?" called Dad.
+
+"I got a bump.  I don't really know what did occur.  The ropes are all
+washed away, Dad.  I don't know how I'm going to help you up here now
+that I have got up.  Aren't there any vines of which I could make a
+ladder?"
+
+"Nary a vine that'll make a seventy-five-foot ladder."
+
+"Then there is only one thing for me to do."
+
+"What's that?"
+
+"Hurry to the rim and get ropes."
+
+"I reckon you'll have to do that, kid, if you think you're able.  Are
+you much knocked out?"
+
+"I'm all right.  Tell them not to worry.  I may be gone some time, but
+I shall be back."
+
+"Good luck! I wish I could help you."
+
+"I don't need help now.  There is no further danger.  Are my friends
+down there hungry?"
+
+"Stacy Brown is thinking of nibbling rocks."
+
+Tad laughed, then began climbing up the trail.  Nance, watching him
+narrowly, saw that the boy was very weary, being scarcely able to drag
+himself along.  After a time Tad passed out of sight up what was left
+of Bright Angel Trail.  Nance, with a sigh, turned to begin retracing
+his steps down to the Pony Rider Boys' party.
+
+"Well, he made it, didn't he?" cried Ned.  "We have been watching him
+all the time."
+
+"There's a real man," answered the guide, with an emphatic nod.  "Pity
+there aren't more like him."
+
+"There is one like him," spoke up Chunky.
+
+"Who?"
+
+"Little me," answered the fat boy, tapping his chest modestly.
+
+"That's so; Chunky did jump into the raging flood," said Walter.  "We
+mustn't forget that he acted the part of a brave man while we were
+standing there shivering and almost gasping for breath."
+
+"Brave?" drawled Ned sarcastically.
+
+"Ned Rector, you know you were scared stiff," retorted Walter.
+
+"Well, I'll be honest with you, I was.  Who wouldn't have been?  Even
+the Professor's mustache changed color for the moment."
+
+The afternoon passed.  It was now growing dark, for the night came on
+early down there in the Canyon.  On the tops of the peaks the lowering
+sun was lighting up the red sandstone, making it appear like a great
+flame on the polished walls.
+
+"Isn't it time Tad were getting back?" asked the Professor anxiously.
+
+"Well, it's a long, hard climb, you know.  All of seven miles the way
+one has to go.  That makes fourteen miles up and back, and they're real
+miles, as you know."
+
+"I hope nothing has happened to the boy."
+
+"Leave it to him.  He knows how to take care of himself."
+
+No one thought of lying down to sleep.  In the first place, all were
+too hungry.  Then, again, at any moment Tad might return.  Midnight
+arrived.  Suddenly Nance held up his hands for silence.
+
+"Whoo-oo!"
+
+It was a long-drawn, far-away call.
+
+"That's Tad," said Nance.  "We'd better gather up our belongings and
+get up to the break in the trail."
+
+The guide answered the call by a similar "whoo-oo," after which all
+began climbing cautiously.  In the darkness it was dangerous business,
+but a torch held in the hands of Jim Nance aided them materially.  Far
+up on the side of the Canyon they could see three flickering points of
+light.
+
+"It's the kid.  He's got somebody with him.  I thought he'd do that.
+He's a wise one," chuckled the guide.
+
+The climb was made in safety.  The party ar rived at the base at last,
+the boys shouting joyously as they saw Tad waving a torch at them.  At
+least they supposed it was Tad.
+
+"What do you think about waiting until daylight for the climb?" shouted
+Butler.
+
+"I'll see what they say," answered Nance.  "What about it, gentlemen?"
+
+"I think it perhaps would be safer." This from the Professor.
+
+"What, spend another night in this hole?" demanded Stacy.  "No, sirree."
+
+"Please let us go on up, Professor," begged Walter.
+
+"Yes, we don't want to stay down here.  We can climb at night as well
+as in daylight," urged Chunky.
+
+"What have you got, ropes?" called Nance.
+
+"I've brought down some rope ladders, which I have spliced-----"
+
+"I hope you've done a better job on the splicing than you did on your
+own rope when you sailed across the horseshoe bend," shouted Stacy.
+"If you haven't, I refuse to trust my precious life to your old rope."
+
+"Too bad about your precious life," laughed Ned.  "Well, Professor,
+what do you say?"
+
+"Is it safe, Nance?"
+
+"As safe now as at any other time."
+
+"All right."
+
+"Let down your ladder," called the guide.  "Be sure that it is well
+secured.  How many have you with you?"
+
+"Three men, if that is what you mean."
+
+"Very good."
+
+The rope ladder was let down.  Those below were just able to reach it
+with their hands.  It came within less than a foot of being too short.
+
+"Who is going up first?" asked the guide.
+
+"The Professor, of course," replied Chunky magnanimously.
+
+"That is very thoughtful of you, Stacy," smiled Professor Zepplin.
+
+"Yes, you are the heaviest.  If the rope doesn't break with you, it's
+safe for the rest of us," answered Chunky, whereat there was a general
+laugh.
+
+"Very good, young man.  I will accommodate you," announced the Professor
+grimly, grasping the rope and pulling himself up with the assistance of
+Nance and the boys.
+
+The rope swayed dizzily.
+
+"Hold it there!" shouted the Professor.
+
+Nance had already grasped the end of the ladder and was holding to it
+with his full weight.  After a long time a shout from above told them
+that Professor Zepplin had arrived safely at the top.  Walter went up
+next, then Chunky and Ned, followed finally by Jim Nance himself after
+their belongings had been hauled to the top.
+
+Professor Zepplin embraced Tad immediately upon reaching the trail
+above.  The boys joked Butler about being such a poor swimmer.  About
+that time they discovered that Tad had a gash nearly four inches long
+on his head where he had come in contact with the sharp edge of a rock
+in the river.  Tad had lost much blood and was still weak and pale from
+his terrific experiences.  Nance wrung Tad Butler's hand until Tad
+winced.
+
+"Ain't a man in the whole Grand who could have done what you did,
+youngster," declared Dad enthusiastically.
+
+"The question is, did you fetch down anything to eat?" demanded Chunky.
+
+"Yes, of course I did."
+
+"Where is it?  Lead me to it," shouted the fat boy.
+
+"I left the stuff up at the Garden, where the mustangs are.  We will go
+up there, the Professor and Mr. Nance approving."
+
+The Professor and Mr. Nance most certainly did approve of the suggestion,
+for both were very hungry.  The men who had come down with Tad led the
+way with their torches.  It was a long, hard climb, the use of the ropes
+being found necessary here and there for convenience and to save time.
+Tad had had none of these conveniences when he went up.  How he had
+made the trip so easily as he appeared to make it set the boys to
+wondering.
+
+Baskets of food were found at the Garden.  The party did full justice
+to the edibles, then, acting on the suggestion of Nance, they rolled
+up in their blankets and went to sleep.  First, however, Professor
+Zepplin had examined the wound in Tad's head.  He found it a scalp
+wound.  The Professor washed and dressed the wound, after which Tad
+went to bed.
+
+On the following morning they mounted their mustangs and started slowly
+for the rim, where they arrived some time after noon.  The Pony Rider
+Boys instantly went into camp near the hotel, for it had been decided
+to take a full day's rest before starting out on the long trip.  This
+time they were to take their pack train with them and cut off from
+civilization for the coming few weeks, they would live in the Canyon,
+foraging for what food they were unable to carry with them.
+
+The guests at the hotel, after hearing of Tad Butler's bravery, tried
+to make a hero of the lad, but Tad would have none of it.  He grew red
+in the face every time anyone suggested that he had done anything out
+of the ordinary.  And deep down in his heart the lad did not believe
+that he had.  Professor Zepplin, however, called a surgeon, who took
+five stitches in the scalp wound.
+
+On the following morning camp was struck and the party started out for
+Bright Angel Gulch and Cataract Canyon, in both of which places some
+interesting as well as exciting experiences awaited them.  Nance had
+brought three of his hunting dogs with him in case any game were started.
+
+The boys were looking forward to shooting a lion, though, there being
+no snow on the ground, it would be difficult for the dogs to strike
+and follow a trail.  How well they succeeded we shall see.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE DOGS PICK UP A TRAIL
+
+
+The man in charge of the pack train having deserted them before the
+travelers got back from the rim, Dad picked up a half breed whom the
+boys named Chow, because he was always chewing.  If not food, Chow was
+forever munching on a leaf or a twig or a stick.  His jaws were ever
+at work until the boys were working their own jaws out of pure sympathy.
+
+The march was taken up to Bass Trail, which they reached about noon of
+the second day and started down.  No unusual incident occurred during
+this journey.  They found the trail in good condition, and though steep
+and precipitous in places, it gave the Pony Rider Boys no worry.  After
+having experienced the perils of the other trail, this one seemed tame.
+
+From Bass Trail they worked their way down and across into Bright Angel
+Gulch, where they made camp and awaited the arrival of Chow and the
+mules with their tents and provisions.
+
+Chow arrived late the same day.  Tents were pitched and settled.  It was
+decided for the present to make this point their base of supplies.  When
+on short journeys they would travel light, carrying such equipment as
+was absolutely necessary, and no more.
+
+This gulch was far from the beaten track of the ordinary explorer, a
+vast but attractive gash in the plateau.  In spots there was verdure,
+and, where the water courses reached in, stretches of grass with here
+and there patches of gramma grass, grease wood and creosote plants with
+a profusion of flowers, mostly red, in harmony with the prevailing
+color of the rocks that towered high above them.  At this point the
+walls of the Canyon reached nearly seven thousand feet up into the air.
+
+Down there on the levels the sun glared fiercely at midday, but along
+toward night refreshing breezes drifted through the Canyon, making the
+evenings cool and delightful.  But there were drawbacks.  There were
+snakes and insects in this almost tropical lower land.  The boys were
+not greatly disturbed over these things.  By this time they were pretty
+familiar with insects and reptiles, for it will be remembered that they
+had spent much time in the wilder places of their native country.
+
+For the first twenty-four hours of their stay in "Camp Butler," as they
+had named their base in honor of Tad himself, they did little more than
+make short excursions out into the adjoining canyons.  The Professor
+embraced the opportunity to indulge in some scientific researches into
+the geology of the Canyon, on which in the evening he was wont to dwell
+at length in language that none of the boys understood.  But they
+listened patiently, for they were very fond of this grizzled old
+traveler who had now been their companion for so long.
+
+The third night the dogs appeared restless.  They lay at the end of
+their leashes growling and whipping their tails angrily.
+
+"What is the matter with the dogs?" demanded Tad Butler.
+
+"I think they must have fleas," decided Chunky wisely.
+
+"No, it isn't fleas," said Dad, who had been observing them for the
+past few minutes.  "It's my opinion that there's game hereabouts."
+
+"Deer?" questioned Ned.
+
+"No.  More likely it's something that is after the deer."
+
+"Lions?" asked Tad.
+
+"I reckon."
+
+"Have you seen any signs of them?"
+
+"What you might call a sign," Nance nodded.  "I found, up in Mystic
+Canyon this afternoon, all that was left of a deer.  The lions had
+killed it and stripped all the best flesh from the deer.  So it's plain
+enough that the cats are hanging around.  I thought we'd come up with
+some of them down here."
+
+"Wow for the king of beasts!" shouted Chunky, throwing up his sombrero.
+
+"Nothing like a king," retorted Jim Nance.  "The mountain lion isn't
+in any class with African lions.  The lion hereabouts is only a part
+as big.  A king---this mountain lion of ours?  You'd better call the
+beast a dirty savage, and be satisfied with that."
+
+"But we're going to go after some of them, aren't we?" asked Ned.
+
+"Surely," nodded Nance.
+
+"When?" pressed Walter.
+
+"Is it safe?" the more prudent Professor Zepplin wanted to know.
+
+"Safe?" repeated Jim Nance.  "Well, when it comes to that, nothing down
+in this country can be called exactly safe.  All sorts of trouble can
+be had around here for the asking.  But I reckon that these young
+gentlemen will know pretty well how to keep themselves reasonably
+safe---all except Mr. Brown, who'll bear some watching."
+
+Even long after they had turned in that night the boys kept on talking
+about the coming hunts of the next few days.  They fairly dreamed lions.
+In the morning the hunt was the first thing they thought of as they ran
+to wash up for breakfast.  In the near distance could be heard the
+baying of hounds, for Dad's dogs were no longer chained up.
+
+"I let the dogs loose," Nance explained, noting the eager, questioning
+glances.  "The dogs have got track of something.  Hustle your breakfasts!
+We'll get away with speed."
+
+Breakfast was disposed of in a hurry that morning.  Then the boys
+hustled to get ready for the day's sport.  When, a few minutes later,
+they set off on their ponies, with rifles thrust in saddle boots,
+revolvers bristling from their belts, ropes looped over the pommels of
+their saddles, the Pony Rider Boys presented quite a warlike appearance.
+
+"If you were half as fierce as you look I'd run," declared Dad, with
+a grin.
+
+"Which way do we go?" questioned the Professor.
+
+"We'll all hike up into the Mystic Canyon.  There we'll spread out, each
+man for himself.  One of us can't help but fall to the trail of a beast
+if he is careful."
+
+After reaching the Mystic they heard the dogs in a canyon some distance
+away.  Ned and Walter were sent off to the left, Tad to the north, while
+the rest remained in the Mystic Canyon to wait there, where the chase
+should lead at some time during the day.
+
+"Three shots are a signal to come in, or to come to the fellow who
+shoots," announced the guide.  "Look out for yourselves."
+
+Silence soon settled down over Mystic Canyon.  Chunky was disappointed
+that he had not been assigned to go out with one of his companions, he
+found time hanging heavily on his hands with Nance and the Professor,
+but he uttered no complaint.
+
+The Professor and guide had dismounted from their ponies and were seated
+on a rock busily engaged in conversation.  Chunky, after glancing at
+them narrowly, shouldered his rifle and strolled off, leaving his pony
+tethered to a sapling.
+
+He walked further than he had intended, making his way to a rise of
+ground about a quarter of a mile away, with the hope that he might
+catch a glimpse of some of his companions.  Once on the rise, which was
+quite heavily wooded, he seemed to hear the hounds much more plainly
+than before.  It seemed to Stacy that they were approaching from the
+other side, opposite to that which the rest were watching.  He glanced
+down into the canyon, but could see neither of the two older men.
+
+"Most exciting chase I've ever been in," muttered the fat boy in disgust,
+throwing himself down on the ground with rifle across his knees.
+"Lions!  I don't believe there are any lions in the whole country.
+Dad's been having dreams.  It's my private opinion that Dad's got an
+imagination that works over time once in a while.  I think-----"
+
+The words died on the fat boy's lips.  His eyes grew wide, the pupils
+narrowed, the whites giving the appearance of small inverted saucers.
+
+Stacy scarcely breathed.
+
+There, slinking across an open space on the rise, its tail swishing its
+ears laid flat on its cruel, cat-like head, was a tawny, lithe creature.
+
+Stacy Brown recognized the object at once.  It was a mountain lion, a
+large one.  It seemed to Chunky that he never had seen a beast as large
+in all his life.  The lion was alternately listening to the baying of
+the hounds and peering about for a suitable tree in which to hide itself.
+
+Stacy acted like a man in a trance.  Without any clear idea as to what
+he was doing, he rose slowly to his feet.  At that instant the lion
+discovered him.  It crouched down, its eyes like sparks of fire,
+scintillating and snapping.
+
+All at once Stacy threw his gun to his shoulder and pulled the trigger.
+At least he thought he did.  But no report came.
+
+A yellow flash, a swish and the beast had leaped clear of the rise and
+disappeared even more suddenly than he had come.
+
+"Wha---wha-----" gasped Chunky.  Then he made a discovery.
+
+Chunky was holding the rifle by the barrel with the muzzle against his
+shoulder, having aimed the butt at the crouching lion.  Chunky had had
+a severe attack of "buck fever."
+
+With a wild yell that woke the echoes and sent Jim Nance and Professor
+Zepplin tearing through the bushes, Stacy dashed down the steep slope,
+forgetting to take his rifle with him in his hurried descent.
+
+He met the two men running toward him.
+
+"What is it?  What's happened?" shouted the Professor.
+
+"I saw him!  I saw him!" yelled Stacy, almost frantic with excitement.
+
+Nance grabbed the boy by the shoulder, shaking him roughly.
+
+"Speak up.  What did you see?"
+
+"I su---su---saw a lu---lu---lion, I di---did."
+
+"Where?" demanded Nance.
+
+"Up there."
+
+Chunky's eyes were full of excitement.
+
+"Why didn't you shoot him?"
+
+"I---I tried to, but the gu---gun wouldn't go off.  I---I had it wrong
+end to."
+
+Dad relaxed his grip on the fat boy's arm and sat down heavily.
+
+"Of all the tarnal idiots---of all!  Professor, if we don't tie that boy
+to a tree he'll be killing us all with his fool ways.  Why, you baby,
+you ain't fit to carry a pop-gun.  By the way, where is your gun?"
+
+"I---I guess, I lost it up---up there," stammered Stacy.
+
+Dad started for the top of the rise in long strides, Chunky gazing after
+him in a dazed sort of way.
+
+"I---I guess I did make a fool of myself, didn't I, Professor?" he
+mourned.
+
+"I am inclined to think you did---several different varieties of them,"
+answered Professor Zepplin in a tone of disgust.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+THE MYSTERY OF THE RIFLE
+
+
+"I can't help it, I saw a lion, anyway," muttered the fat boy.
+
+"Come up here!" It was Dad's voice calling to them.  "Where's that
+rifle?"
+
+"I---I dropped it, I told you."
+
+"Where did you drop it?"
+
+"Right there."
+
+"Show me."
+
+Stacy climbed to the top of the rise and stepped confidently over to
+where he had let go the rifle before rushing down after having tried
+to shoot the lion.  He actually stooped over to pick up the gun, so
+confident was he as to its location.  Then a puzzled expression appeared
+on Stacy's face.
+
+"Oh, it's there, is it?"
+
+"Why---I---I------- Say, you're trying to play a joke on me."
+
+"I rather think you've played it on yourself," jeered the guide.  "Where
+did you leave it?"
+
+"Right there, I tell you."
+
+"Sure you didn't throw it over in the bushes down the other side?"
+
+"I guess I know what I did with it," retorted Chunky indignantly.
+
+"Well, it isn't here." Dad was somewhat puzzled by this time.  He saw
+that Stacy was very confident of having left the gun at that particular
+place, but it could not be found.
+
+"Maybe somebody's stolen it," suggested the boy.
+
+"Nonsense!  Who is there here to steal it, in the first place?  In the
+second, how could any one slip in here at the right moment and get
+away with your rifle?"
+
+"You have no---no idea what has become of it---no theory?" asked the
+Professor.
+
+"Not the least little bit," replied the guide.
+
+"Most remarkable---most remarkable," muttered Professor Zepplin.  "I
+cannot understand it."
+
+"We'll look around a bit," announced Dad.
+
+The three men searched everywhere, even going all the way down to the
+base of the rise on either side, but nowhere did they find the slightest
+trace of the missing rifle.  After they had returned to the summit, Dad,
+a new idea in mind, went over the rocks and the ground again in search
+of footprints.  The only footprints observable were those of their own
+party.  There was more in the mystery than Dad could fathom.
+
+"Well, this gets me," declared the guide, wiping the perspiration from
+his forehead.  "This certainly does."
+
+"Is---is my rifle lost?" wailed Chunky.
+
+"I reckon you'll never see that pretty bit of firearms again," grinned
+Jim.
+
+"But it must be here," insisted Stacy.
+
+"But it isn't.  Fortunately we have plenty of guns with us.  You can get
+another when we go back to camp."
+
+"Yes, but this one is mine-----"
+
+"Was yours," corrected Nance.
+
+"It is mine, and I'm going to have it before I leave this miserable old
+hole," declared the boy.
+
+"I hope you find it.  I'd like to know how the thing ever got away in
+that mysterious manner."
+
+"Maybe the lion took it."
+
+"Mebby he did.  Funny I hadn't thought of that," answered Nance gravely.
+Then both he and the Professor burst into a shout of laughter.
+
+They made their way slowly back to the point where they were to meet
+the others of the party.  Chunky, now being without a rifle, was well
+content to remain with the guide and the Professor.
+
+While all this was going on Tad and Walter were picking their way over
+the rough ridges, through narrow canyons, riding their ponies where a
+novice would hardly have dared to walk.  The ponies seemed to take to
+the work naturally.  Not a single misstep was made by either of them.
+They, too, could hear the dogs, but the latter were far away most of
+the time, even though, for all the riders knew, they might have been
+just the other side of the rocky wall along which the two boys were
+traveling.
+
+They kept on in this way until late in the afternoon, when they stopped
+and dismounted, deciding that they would have a bite to eat.
+
+"It doesn't look as if we were going to have any luck, does it, Tad?"
+asked Walter in a disappointed tone.
+
+"No, it doesn't.  But one never can tell.  In hunting game you know it
+comes upon one suddenly.  You have to be ever on the alert.  We know
+that the dogs have been on the trail of something."
+
+"Perhaps deer," suggested Walter.
+
+"Yes, it is possible, though I don't know whether those dogs will trail
+deer or not.  You know they may be trained to hunt lions.  I didn't
+hear Mr. Nance say."
+
+They were munching biscuit and eating oranges as they rested, which
+must have tasted good to them.  The temperature was going down with
+the day, though the light was strong in the canyon where they were
+standing.  Above them the jagged, broken cliffs rose tier on tier until
+they seemed to disappear far up in the fleecy clouds that were drifting
+lazily over the Canyon.
+
+All at once Silver Face, Tad's pony, exhibited signs of restlessness,
+which seemed to be quickly communicated to the other animal.  The pintos
+stamped, shook their heads and snorted.
+
+"Whoa! What's wrong with you fellows?" demanded Tad, eyeing the ponies
+keenly.  "Smell something, eh?"
+
+"Maybe they smell oats," suggested Walter.
+
+"I guess not.  They are a long way from oats at the present moment."
+
+Tad paused abruptly.  A pebble had rattled down the rocky wall and
+bounded off some yards to the front of them.  Silver Face started and
+would have bounded away had not a firm hand been at that instant laid
+on the bridle rein.
+
+To one unaccustomed to the mountains the incident might have passed
+unnoticed.  By this time Tad Butler was a pretty keen woodsman as well
+as plainsman.  He had learned to take notice of everything.  Even the
+most trivial signs hold a meaning all their own for the man who
+habitually lives close to Nature.
+
+The lad glanced sharply at the rocks.
+
+"See anything?" asked Walter.
+
+"No."
+
+"What did you think you heard?"
+
+"I didn't hear anything but that pebble.  The horses smelled something,
+though."
+
+While he was speaking the lad's glances were traveling slowly over the
+rocks above.  All at once he paused.
+
+"Don't stir, Walt.  Look up."
+
+"Where?"
+
+"In line with that cloud that looks like a dragon.  Then lower your
+glance slowly.  I think you will see something worth while."
+
+It was a full moment before Walter Perkins discovered that to which
+his attention had been called.
+
+"It's a cat," breathed Walt, almost in awe.
+
+"Yes, that's a lion.  He is evidently hiding up there, where he has gone
+to get away from the dogs.  We will walk away a bit as if we were
+leaving.  Then we'll tether the horses securely.  Don't act as if you
+saw the beast.  I know now what was the matter with the mustangs.  They
+scented that beast up there."
+
+The ponies were quickly secured, after which the boys crouched in the
+brush and sought out the lion again.  He was still in the same place,
+but was now standing erect, head toward them, well raised as if in a
+listening attitude.
+
+"My, isn't he a fine one!" whispered Walt.  Walter Perkins was not
+suffering from the same complaint that Chunky had caught when he first
+saw his lion over in the other canyon, an offshoot from the Bright
+Angel Canyon, and where he had lost his rifle so mysteriously.
+
+"Take careful aim; then, when he turns his side toward us, let him
+have it," directed Tad.
+
+"Oh, no, you discovered him.  He is your game.  You shoot, Tad."
+
+Butler shook his head.
+
+"I want you to shoot.  I have already killed a cougar.  This is your
+chance to distinguish yourself."
+
+Walter's eyes sparkled.  He raised his rifle, leveling it through the
+crotch of a small tree.
+
+"Wait till he turns," whispered Tad, fingering his own rifle anxiously.
+He could hardly resist the temptation to take a shot at the animal
+where it stood facing them far up the side of the canyon wall.
+
+"Now!" Tad's tone was calm, steady and low.
+
+Walter's rifle barked.
+
+"You've hit him!" yelled Tad.  "Look out!  He's up again!" warned the
+boy.
+
+The beast had not been killed by the shot.  He had been bowled over,
+dropping down to a lower crag, where he sprang to his feet and with a
+roar of rage bounded up the mountainside.
+
+"Shoot! Shoot!" cried Butler.
+
+But Walter did not even raise his rifle.  A sudden fit of trembling had
+taken possession of him.  His was the "buck fever" in another form.
+
+Bang!
+
+Butler had let go a quick shot.
+
+A roar followed the shot.
+
+"Bang!"
+
+"There, I guess that settled him," decided Tad Butler, lowering his
+rifle.
+
+"I---I should say it did," gasped Walter.
+
+The tawny beast was throwing himself this way and that, the boys
+meanwhile watching him anxiously.
+
+"I'm afraid he's going to stick up there," cried Walter, dancing about
+shouting excitedly.
+
+"No, he isn't.  There he comes."
+
+"Hurray!"
+
+"Duck!"
+
+Tad grabbed his companion, jerking the latter back and running with him.
+They were just at the spot where the ponies had been tethered, when a
+heavy body struck the ground not far from where they had been standing.
+Silver Face leaped right up into the air, then settled back on his
+haunches in an attempt to break the hitching rope.
+
+Tad struck the animal against the flank with the flat of his hand,
+whereat the mustang bounded to his feet.
+
+"Whoa, you silly old animal!" cried Tad.  "Look out, Walt, don't get
+too near that lion.  You may lose some of your clothes if he shouldn't
+happen to be dead.  I'll be there in a moment, as soon as I can get
+these horses quieted down."
+
+In a moment Tad was running toward his companion.
+
+"Is he settled?"
+
+"I don't know.  His---his eyes are open," stammered Walter, standing off
+a safe distance from the prostrate beast.
+
+Tad poked the animal with the muzzle of his rifle.
+
+"Yes, he's a dead one.  One less brute to make war on the deer.  Won't
+old Dad be surprised when we trail into camp with this big game?"
+exulted the Pony Rider boy.
+
+"Yes, but---but how are we going to get the fellow there?" wondered
+Walter.
+
+"Get him there?  Well, I guess we'll do it somehow.  I'll tell you
+what, I'll take him over the saddle in front of me.  That's the idea.
+You bring out Silver Face and we'll see how he feels about it.  I
+wouldn't be surprised if he raised a row."
+
+Silver Face did object most emphatically.  The instant the pony came
+in sight of the dead lion he sat down on his haunches.  Tad urged and
+threatened, but not another inch would the pinto budge.
+
+"I guess I know how to fix you," gritted the boy.
+
+He was on the back of the sitting mustang, his feet in the stirrups,
+before the pony realized what had happened.  A reasonably sharp rowel,
+pressed into the pinto's side, brought him a good two feet clear of
+the ground.
+
+Then began a lively battle between the boy and the horse.
+
+"Don't let him tread on the beast," shouted Walter.
+
+"N-n-no danger of that," stammered Tad.  It was a lively battle while
+it lasted, but Silver Face realized, as he had never done before, that
+he had met his master.  After some twenty minutes of fight, in which
+the pinto made numerous futile attempts to climb the sheer side of
+the canyon at the imminent danger of toppling over backwards and
+crushing his master, the brute gave up.
+
+"Now you hold him while I load on the beast," directed Tad, riding up.
+
+This called for more disturbance.  Silver Face fought against taking
+a lion on his back.  He drew the line at that.  Just the same, after
+another lively scrimmage, Mr. Lion was loaded on, but no sooner had
+Tad swung into the saddle than he swung out again.  He hadn't even
+time to get his toes in the stirrups before he was flying through the
+air, head first.  Walter had difficulty in determining which was boy
+and which was lion.  The lion struck the ground first, Tad landing on
+top of him.
+
+With rare presence of mind, Walter had seized the pinto and was having
+a lively set-to with the beast, with the odds in favor of Silver Face,
+when Tad sprang up and ran to his companion's assistance.
+
+Tad's temper was up.  The way he grilled Silver Face that animal
+perhaps never forgot.  Not that Tad abused his mount.  He never would
+be guilty of abusing a horse.  He was too fond of horseflesh to do
+such a thing, but he knew how to punish an animal in other and more
+effective ways.  Silver Face was punished.
+
+"Now, my fine fellow, let's see who's boss here!" laughed Tad.  "Hold
+him while I put aboard the baggage, Walt."
+
+The pony submitted to the ordeal a second time.  This time there was
+no bucking, and shortly afterwards the lads started for their
+companions bearing the trophy of their hunt with them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+A NEW WAY TO HUNT LIONS
+
+
+Long before they reached the meeting point they heard the long-drawn
+"Woohoo!" of Jim Nance calling them in.  They were the only ones
+out at that time.  Tad set up a series of answering "woos-hoos" that
+caused Silver Face to wiggle his ears disapprovingly, as if this were
+some new method of torture invented for his special benefit.
+
+As they got in sight of the rest of the party, the boys set up a shout.
+Their companions, about that time, discovered that Tad was carrying
+something before him on the pony.  Chunky and Ned started on a run to
+meet Tad and Walter.  How Chunky did yell when he discovered what that
+something was.
+
+"They've got a cat!  They've got a cat!" he howled, dancing about and
+swinging his arms.  "I tell you, they've got a cat!"
+
+Tad rode into camp smiling, flinging the lion to the ground, which
+caused Tad's pony to perform once more.
+
+"Who shot him?" cried the Professor, fully as excited as the boys.
+
+"This is a partnership cat," laughed Tad.  "We both have some bullets
+in him.  How many did you fellows get?"
+
+"Well, I had one, but he got away," answered Stacy, his face sobering
+instantly.  "And---and he carried off my rifle too."
+
+"What's that?" demanded Tad.
+
+Chunky explained briefly.  But he had little opportunity to talk.  Dad,
+who had been examining the dead lion, straightened up and looked at Tad.
+
+"Good job, boys.  It's a dandy.  Must weigh nigh onto three hundred
+pounds.  Have much of a tussle with him?"
+
+"Not any.  He was dead when he got down to us."
+
+"Very fine specimen," decided the Professor, examining the dead beast
+from a respectable distance.  "You lads are to be congratulated."
+
+"Say, I'm going with you to-morrow," cried Stacy.  "These folks don't
+know how to hunt lions."
+
+"Do you?" demanded Nance witheringly.
+
+Stacy colored violently.
+
+"At least I know how to stalk them," he answered.  "If I lose my gun in
+the excitement that doesn't mean that I'm not a natural born lion
+chaser.  Anybody can shoot a lion, but everybody can't sit still and
+charm the lion right up to him."
+
+They admitted that the fat boy was right in this assertion.  Chunky
+had done all of that.  Upon their return to camp, Walter and Tad had
+asked numerous questions about the loss of the gun.  There was little
+additional information that either Stacy or the two men could give
+them.  The gun had most mysteriously disappeared, that was all.  Nance
+was more puzzled than any of the others and he groped in vain for an
+explanation of the mystery, but no satisfactory explanation suggested
+itself to his mind.
+
+After supper the guide cut some meat from the cat and fed it to the
+weary dogs, who had not succeeded in treeing a single lion, though they
+had come near doing so several times.  But they had sent the cats
+flying for cover, which had given Chunky and the other two boys
+opportunity to use their guns, though Stacy Brown, in his excitement,
+had failed to take advantage of the opportunity offered to him.
+
+It was decided that the hunt should be taken up again on the following
+morning.  Nance said Stacy might go with Tad this time, Nance taking
+charge of the other three boys.  This was satisfactory to Chunky
+and Tad.
+
+The morning found the camp awake at an early hour.  Chunky and Tad set
+off together, the former having been equipped with a rifle from the
+extra supply carried by the party, the guide having administered a
+sarcastic suggestion that Chunky tie the rifle to his back so that he
+would not lose this one.
+
+Chunky made appropriate reply, after which they rode away.  The early
+part of the day was devoid of success.  They did not even hear the
+bay of a hound all the forenoon.  Tad took their quest coolly,
+undisturbed.  He had already gotten one lion and could well afford not
+to get one this time.  It was different with Stacy.  He was anxious
+to distinguish himself, to make amends for his blunders of the
+previous day.
+
+About an hour after they had eaten their lunch they heard the bounds
+for the first time.  Tad listened intently for a few minutes.
+
+"I think they are coming this way, Chunky."
+
+"If they do, you give me the first shot.  I've simply got to meet
+another cat."
+
+"You shall have it, providing you are on the job and ready.  These cats
+don't wait around for a fellow to get ready to shoot, as you have no
+doubt observed."
+
+"Don't remind me of disagreeable things, please," growled Stacy.  "I've
+had my chance and I lost it.  Next time I see a cat I'm going to kill
+him on the spot.  Wait; I'm going to take an observation."
+
+"Don't go far," warned Tad.
+
+"No, I won't.  Just want to have a look at the landscape," flung back
+Stacy, hurrying away, while Tad stretched out for a little rest, well
+satisfied to have Stacy do the moving about until there was something
+real to be done, when Tad would be on hand on the jump.
+
+Stacy had not taken his gun.  In fact, he wholly forgot to do so, not
+thinking for an instant that he would have opportunity to use it.  This
+was where the fat boy made another serious mistake.  A hunter should
+never be beyond reaching distance of his gun when out on the trail
+for game.  It is a mistake that has cost some men their lives, others
+the loss of much coveted game.
+
+Choosing a low, bushy pinyon tree as best suited to the purposes of a
+lazy climber, Stacy climbed it, grunting and grumbling unintelligibly.
+He had hopes that he might discover something worth while, something
+that would distinguish him from his fellows on that particular day.
+
+"I feel as if something were going to happen," he confided to the tree,
+seating himself in a crotch formed by a limb extending out from the
+main body of the tree, then parting the foliage for a better view.
+"It's funny how a fellow feels about these things some times.  Hello,
+there, I actually believe those are deer running yonder.  Or maybe
+they're cows," added Stacy.  "Anyhow I couldn't shoot them, whichever
+they are, so I won't get excited over them."
+
+Chunky fixed his eyes on the opposite side of the tree a little above
+where he was perched.
+
+"I thought I saw something move there.  Hello, I hear the hounds again.
+They've surely gotten on track of something.  And-----"
+
+Once more the fat boy paused.  He saw something yellow lying along a
+limb of the tree, something at first sight that he took to be a snake.
+But he knew of no snakes that had fur on their bodies.  The round, furry
+thing that he thought might be a snake at first now began whipping up
+and down on the limb, curling at its end, twisting, performing strange
+antics.
+
+What could it mean?  Stacy parted the foliage a little more, then once
+again, as had been the case on the previous day, his eyes opened wide.
+
+He saw now what was at the other end of the snake-like appendage.  And
+seeing he understood that he was in a predicament.  But Chunky's voice
+failed him.
+
+There on the opposite limb of the tree, less than ten feet away,
+crouched the biggest mountain lion Stacy Brown ever had seen.  And
+it grew larger with the seconds.  The beast was working its tail, its
+whiskers bristled, its eyes shone like points of steel.  It seemed as
+if the beast were trying to decide whether to attack the boy within
+such easy reach or to leap to the ground and flee.  The deep baying of
+the dogs in the distance evidently decided the cat against the latter
+plan.  Then, too, perhaps the howls that Chunky now emitted had
+something to do with the former question.
+
+Tad Butler, stretched out on the ground, found himself standing bolt
+upright as if he had been propelled to that position by a spring.  The
+most unearthly howls he had ever heard broke upon the mountain stillness.
+
+"Wow!  Ow-wow-wow!  Tad!  Help, help, help!  Quick!"
+
+Tad was off like a shot himself, not even pausing to snatch up his gun
+which lay so near at hand.  And how he did run!
+
+"Where, Chunky?  Where are you?  Shout quick!"
+
+"Wow!  Ow-wow-wow!" was the only answer Stacy Brown could make, but the
+sound of his voice unerringly guided Tad to the location.  But Stacy
+could not be found.
+
+"In the name of-----"
+
+"Wow!  Ow-wow-wow!" howled the agonized voice of the fat boy from the
+branches of the pinyon tree.
+
+Tad peered up between the branches.  He saw Stacy looking down upon him
+with panic stricken gaze.
+
+"For the love of goodness, what's the matter, Stacy?  You nearly
+frightened me to death."
+
+"Look out!" The words, shouted at the top of the fat boy's voice, were
+so thrilling that Tad leaped back instinctively.
+
+"See here, don't make a fool of me, too.  What's the matter with you?
+Come down out of that."
+
+"I can't.  He'll get me."
+
+"What will get you?  Nothing will get you, you ninny!"
+
+"The lion will get me."
+
+"Have you gone raving mad on the subject of lions?" jeered Butler.
+
+"Look, if you don't believe me.  He's up here.  He's trying to get a
+bite out of me.  Shoot him, as you love me, Tad; shoot and shoot
+straight or I'm a dead one."
+
+For the first time since his arrival on the scene Tad began to realize
+that Stacy was not having fun with him.  Something really was up that
+tree---something besides a Pony Rider boy.
+
+"You don't mean to tell me there's a cat up there-----"
+
+"Yes, yes!  He's over there on the other side.  Shoot, shoot!"
+
+"I haven't my gun with me."
+
+The fat boy groaned helplessly.
+
+"I'm a dead one!  Nothing can save me.  Tell them I died like a man;
+tell them I never uttered a squeal."
+
+Tad had sprung around to the side of the pinyon tree indicated by Chunky.
+Up there on a bushy limb, clear of the heavier foliage, lay a sleek,
+but ugly looking cat, swishing its tail angrily.  First, its glances
+would shoot over to Stacy Brown, then down to Tad Butler.  The lion,
+as Tad decided on the spot, had gone into the tree to hide from the
+dogs as had the one that had been shot on the canyon wall the previous
+afternoon.  This time the proposition was a different one.  Both boys
+were in dire peril, as Tad well knew.  At any second the cat might
+spring, either at him or at Stacy.  And neither boy had a gun in
+his hands.
+
+Tad's mind worked with lightning-like rapidity.  It was a time for quick
+thinking if one expected to save one's skin from being torn by those
+needle-like claws.  Butler thought of a plan.  He did not know whether
+there were one chance in a million of the plan working.  He wanted that
+lion a great deal more than the lion wanted him.  He was going to take
+a desperate chance.  An older and more experienced man might not have
+cared to try what Tad Butler was about to attempt.
+
+The Pony Rider boy's hand slipped down to the lasso hanging from his
+belt.  He was thankful that he had that.  The lasso was always there
+except when he was in the saddle, when it was usually looped over the
+pommel.
+
+"Chunky, yell!  Make all the noise you can."
+
+"I am.  Wow-ow-wow.  Y-e-o-w wow!"
+
+"That's right, keep it up.  Don't stop.  Make faces at him, make believe
+you're going to jump at-----"
+
+"Say, anybody would think this were a game of croquet and that I was
+trying to make the other fellow miss the wicket.  Don't you think-----"
+
+"I'm trying to get you to attract his attention-----"
+
+"I don't want to attract his attention.  I want the beast to look the
+other way," wailed the fat boy.  "I want to get out of here."
+
+"Well, why haven't you?"
+
+"I dassent."
+
+While carrying on this conversation with his chum, Tad was watching the
+cat narrowly.  The animal was showing signs of greater excitement now.
+The boy decided that the beast was preparing to jump one way or
+another---which way was a matter of some concern to both boys at that
+particular instant.
+
+The cat took two long paces in Stacy's direction.  Stacy emitted the
+most blood-curdling yell Tad had ever heard.  It served Butler's very
+purpose.  The beast halted with one hind foot poised in the air, glaring
+at Stacy, who was howling more lustily than ever.
+
+Swish!
+
+Tad's lariat shot through the air.  His aim was true, his hand steady
+and cool.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+THE WHIRLWIND BALL OF YELLOW
+
+
+When the startled cat felt the touch of the raw-hide rope against its
+leg it made a tremendous leap straight ahead.
+
+"Too late!" clicked Tad.  "That loop is taut on you now!"
+
+"M-m-murder! Look out!" bellowed Stacy.
+
+For the cat's leap had carried it straight at the fat boy.  In fact one
+sharp set of claws raked the lad from shoulder to waist, though without
+more than breaking the skin.
+
+That blow settled Stacy.
+
+"I'm dead---ripped to pieces!" he yelled.
+
+Without waiting to jump from the tree, Stacy simply fell.  Over and
+over on the ground he rolled until he was a dozen yards away from the
+tree.
+
+"If you're dead," Tad grinned, "get up and come over here, and tell me
+about it."
+
+Stacy slowly rose to his feet.  He was badly shaken, covered with dirt
+and with some blood showing through the rents in his clothes.
+
+"Nothing but my presence of mind and my speed saved me, anyway,"
+Chunky grumbled ruefully.
+
+All in a twinkling that whirling yellow ball shot out of the tree,
+striking the ground before Tad Butler could draw the rope taut.
+However, the rope still hung over a limb.  How the dirt flew!  Tad
+realized that swift action must come ere the beast should make a leap
+at them.
+
+Stacy started away, but Butler's sharp tone halted him.
+
+"Chunky!" Tad panted.
+
+"What?"
+
+"Get hold of this rope with me.  Shake yourself.  What ails you?  Have
+you got a streak of yellow in you?"
+
+"I can thrash the fellow who says I have?" roared the fat boy, springing
+to his feet.
+
+"That's the way to talk.  Come, hurry---get hold here!  He's too much
+for me and he's going to get away from me if you don't lend a hand."
+
+"Wh-what do you want me to do?"
+
+"Grab hold of this rope, I tell you."
+
+Chunky did so, but keeping a wary eye on the rolling, tumbling, spitting
+yellow ball, which was a full grown mountain lion, and an ugly brute.
+The king of the canyons, however, was in a most humiliating position
+for a king of any sort.  He had been roped by his left hind foot, the
+other end of the rope being in the hands of the intrepid Pony Rider boy,
+Thaddeus Butler.  Tad knew well that he had a good thing and he proposed
+to hang on as long as there was an ounce of strength left in his body.
+By this time Stacy had gotten a grip on the rope.
+
+"Now pull steadily until I tell you to stop."
+
+Slowly, digging his claws into the dirt, biting at the rope that held
+him fast, the cat was drawn toward the pinyon tree despite all his
+struggles.  Tad's object was to pull the beast off its feet, in which
+position it would be unable to do very much damage.
+
+Perhaps the cat realized something of this, for all of a sudden it
+sprang to the base of the tree and with a roar landed up among the
+lower limbs.
+
+Ere the beast even felt the touch of the tree limb under its feet, the
+brave Chunky was several rods away peering from behind a rock, howling
+like a Comanche Indian.
+
+Tad, too, had made some lively moves.  The instant he saw that the cat
+was going to jump he took a quick twist about the tree, shortening the
+rope until it was taut.  He made a quick knot, then leaped back out of
+the way.  But none too soon.  The cat pounced on the spot where he had
+been standing, narrowly missing the boy.  But the rope was free of the
+limb of the tree over which it had been first drawn.  The beast was
+free to gambol about as far as the rope would permit.
+
+The boy's mind was still working rapidly.
+
+"Run to the guns, Chunky.  Shoot and keep shooting until you attract
+the attention of the rest of the party.  We've got to have help.  We
+never shall be able to handle him ourselves, and I want to save him."
+
+Stacy hesitated.
+
+"Run, I tell you!" shouted Butler.  "Don't stand there like a statue.
+Go!"
+
+Chunky jumped as if he had been hit, and ran limping toward the place
+where they had left their weapons and their mustangs.  He found both,
+though Chunky was too excited to notice the ponies at all.  Already
+they were restless, having scented the mountain lion.
+
+Snatching up his own rifle, Stacy fired six shots in rapid succession.
+Then grabbing the other gun, he let six more go, but continued snapping
+the firing pin on the empty chamber after all the cartridges had been
+exploded, before he realized that he was not shooting at all.  Stacy
+in trying to reload fumbled and made a mess of it, spilling a lot of
+shells on the ground, most of which he was unable to find again.
+
+"We got him!  We got him!" the fat boy kept chuckling to himself.  "We
+certainly have done it this time."
+
+Finally he got one gun loaded, and had fired it off six times when he
+heard Tad Butler's "Whoo-e-e-e-e."
+
+Chunky hurried back to his companion.
+
+"They've answered," called Tad.
+
+In the meantime the latter had been having a lively time.  He knew that
+were he to give the least possible chance the beast would bite the
+rope off and escape even if he did no worse.  It was to prevent this
+that the boy exerted all his ingenuity and effort.  This consisted of
+whoops and howls, throwing rocks at the animal, dodging in now and then
+to whack the lion with a piece from a limb that had been broken down
+by the cat in its thrashing above.
+
+The dust was flying.  At times it seemed as if the lion must have gotten
+the hardy Pony Rider boy.  At such times the lithe, active form of Tad
+Butler could be seen leaping from the cloud of dust while the beast
+followed with savage lunges to the end of its rope.  It seemed
+impossible to tire out either boy or cat.
+
+It was this condition of affairs that Stacy Brown came upon on his
+return.  He stood gazing at the scene, fascinated.
+
+"Look out, Tad!  He'll get you!" shouted the boy.
+
+"Get in here and give him a poke in the ribs," cried Butler.
+
+"Not for a million dollars, badly as I need money," returned the fat
+boy.  "What do you take me for, an animal trainer?"
+
+"Then I'll have to keep on doing it till Mr. Nance gets here to help
+me.  This is the greatest thing we've ever done, old boy!"
+
+"Yes, it'll be a great thing when the brute hands you one from those
+garden rakes of his.  Get away and I'll shoot him," directed Stacy,
+swinging his rifle into position.
+
+"Put that gun down!" thundered Tad.  "You'll be winging me next thing
+you do.  Put it down, I say!"
+
+Stacy grumblingly obeyed.  Meanwhile the gymnastic exercise continued
+with unabated vigor.  There was not an instant's pause.  The mountain
+lion was busier perhaps than it ever had been in its life.  It was
+battling for its life, too, and it knew it.
+
+Once Tad was raked from head to foot by a vicious claw, but the Pony
+Rider boy merely laughed.  His endurance, too, was most remark able.
+Stacy would hardly get within gun-shot of the beast, always standing
+near a tree convenient for climbing.  Tad was not saying much now.  He
+was rather too busy for conversation.  At last the report of a rifle
+was heard not far away.
+
+"Answer them.  It's the gang," called Tad.  Chunky fired a shot into
+the air, following it with four others.  It was only a short time
+before Jim Nance with Professor Zepplin and the two other boys came
+dashing up, shouting to know where Tad and Chunky were.  They saw
+Chunky first, on guard with his rifle as if holding off an enemy.
+
+"What's the trouble?" cried Nance.
+
+"We've got him!  We've got him!" yelled Stacy.
+
+About that time Nance discovered the swirling cloud of dust, from which
+at intervals emerged a yellow ball.  The guide caught the significance
+of the scene at a single glance.
+
+"It's a cat," howled Ned.  "Let me shoot him."
+
+"Put away your guns.  I guess we know how to catch lions in a scientific
+manner," declared Stacy.
+
+"They've roped the cat," snapped the guide.  "Beats anything I ever
+heard of."  He was off his mustang instantly and running toward Tad.
+"Keep him busy, keep him busy, boy.  I'll fix him for you in a minute."
+
+"I don't want you to kill him."
+
+"I'm not going to.  We've got to stretch him."
+
+Tad did not know what stretching meant in this particular instance, but
+he was soon to learn.  Nance got off to one side of the busy scene, then
+directed Tad to ease up a bit.  The boy did so.  He saw that Dad, too,
+was planning to use his lariat, though the boy had no idea in what way.
+The cat instantly sat down and began tearing at its bonds.  All at once
+Nance's rope shot through the air.  It caught the lion fairly around
+the neck.
+
+For a few moments the air was full of streaks of yellow.  The cat was
+now fast at both ends.  The neck hold was the worse of the two, for it
+choked the beast and soon tired him out.
+
+"Now stretch him," directed the guide.
+
+"How do you mean?"
+
+"Take a single hitch about the tree with your rope, so that we can
+straighten him out."
+
+This Tad did, while Nance performed a similar service on his own line,
+being careful not to choke the lion to death.  During this latter part
+of the proceeding the party that had up to that time held off, now
+approached.
+
+"Will he bite?" asked Walter.
+
+"Stick your finger in his mouth and see?" jeered Chunky.  "He can
+scratch, too.  But we got him, didn't we?  We're the original lion
+tamers from the wild and woolly West."
+
+"Come, who is going to tie those claws together, Stacy?" demanded the
+guide.
+
+"Do what?"
+
+"Tie the cat's feet together."
+
+"Let the Professor do it.  He hasn't done anything yet on this trip.
+Besides, I've got to stand here ready to shoot if the lion gets away.
+If it weren't for that I'd tie his feet."
+
+"Here, you tie his feet, then.  I'll handle the gun," volunteered Ned,
+stepping forward.
+
+Chunky drew back.
+
+"If some one will hold my end of the line I'll attend to that little
+matter," said Tad.
+
+"I guess it's time I did something around here," interjected Ned.
+"What do you want me to do, Mr. Nance?"
+
+"Take your rope, watch your opportunity and rope the forward legs.
+After that is done have somebody hold the rope while you tie the feet
+securely together."
+
+Ned roped the feet without further question, then handing the line to
+Walter Perkins, he calmly tied together the feet of the snarling,
+spitting beast.  The same was done with the hind feet, though the
+latter proved to be much more dangerous than the forward feet.  But
+the mouth of the animal was still free.  He could bite and he did make
+desperate efforts to get at his captors.  They took good care that
+he did not reach them.  Chunky suggested that they pull the cat's
+teeth, so he couldn't bite.  Tad wanted to know if they couldn't
+put a muzzle on.
+
+"The question is what are you going to do with him, now that you have
+him?" demanded the Professor.
+
+"That's the first sane word that's been spoken since we arrived here,"
+grinned Nance.
+
+"We are going to take him back to camp, of course," declared Tad.
+
+"Of course we are.  Don't you understand, we're going to take him back
+to camp," affirmed Stacy.
+
+"What's your plan, Butler?" asked Nance.
+
+"If you leave it to me, I'll show you."
+
+"Go ahead."
+
+Tad cut a long, tough sapling.  This, after some effort, he managed to
+pass through the loop made by the bound legs of the lion.  This strung
+the beast on the pole.
+
+"Now, we'll fasten the two ends to two ponies," decided the lad.
+
+Silver Face and Walter's pony having been broken in on the previous
+day, these two were chosen to carry the prize.  They did not object,
+and in a short time the procession started off for camp, with the lion,
+back down, strung on the pole between two ponies, snarling, spitting,
+roaring out his resentment, while Chunky, leading the way, was
+singing at the top of his voice:
+
+_"Tad Butler is the man; he goes to all the shows, he sticks his
+head in the lion's mouth and tells you all he knows. Who-o-o-pe-e-e!"_
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+THE UNWILLING GUEST DEPARTS
+
+
+Jim Nance didn't say much, but from the way he looked at Tad Butler,
+a quizzical smile playing about the corners of his mouth, it was plain
+that he was filled with admiration for the young Pony Rider who could
+take a lion practically single-handed.
+
+As yet the story of the capture had not been told.  Their prize must
+first be taken care of.  This part of the affair Nance looked after
+personally.  He found a few strands of wire in his kit and with these
+he made a collar and a wire leader that led out to where the tough
+lariat began.  To this the lion was fastened, his forefeet left bound,
+the hind feet being liberated In this condition he was tied to a tree
+in the camp in Bright Angel Gulch.
+
+Chunky was not sure that he liked the arrangement.  He was wondering
+whether lions were gifted with the proverbial memory of elephants.
+If so, and if the big cat should get loose in the night, Chunky knew
+what would happen to himself.  The boy determined to sleep with one
+eye open, his rifle beside his bed.  He would die fighting bravely for
+his life.  He was determined upon that.
+
+Around the camp fire a jolly party of boys gathered that night after
+supper, their merry conversation interrupted occasionally by a snarling
+and growling from the captive.
+
+"Now, young gentlemen, we are anxious to hear the story of the capture,"
+said the Professor.
+
+"Oh, it was nothing," answered Stacy airily.  "It was nothing for us.
+Shooting cats is too tame for such hunters as Tad and me.  We just saw
+him up a tree---that is, I saw him, and-----"
+
+"Where were you?" interrupted Nance.
+
+"I was up the same tree," answered Stacy.
+
+"I'll bet the cat treed him," shouted Ned Rector.  "How about it, Tad?"
+
+"Chunky's telling the story.  Let him tell it in his own way."
+
+"I'll tell you about it, fellows.  I was up a tree looking for lions.
+I found one.  He was sitting in the same tree with me.  He was licking
+his chops.  You see, he wanted a slice of me, I'm so tender and so
+delicious-----"
+
+"So is a rhinoceros," interjected Ned.
+
+"If the gentleman will wait until I have finished he may have the floor
+to himself.  Well, that's about all.  I yelled for Tad.  He came
+running, and he roped the cat."
+
+"Then what did you do?" questioned Walter.
+
+"Oh, I fell out of the tree.  Look at this!" shouted Stacy as soon as
+he was able to make himself heard above the laughter, pointing to his
+ripped clothes.  "That's where the beast made a pass at me.  I'm wounded,
+I am; wounded in a hand-to-hand conflict with the king of the canyon.
+How would that read in the Chillicothe 'Gazette' I'm going to dash off
+something after this fashion to send them: 'Stacy Brown, our
+distinguished fellow citizen, globe-trotter, hunter of big game and
+nature lover, was seriously wounded last week in the Grand Canyon of
+Arizona-----'"
+
+"In what part of your anatomy is the Grand Canyon located?" questioned
+Ned Rector.  "I rise for information."
+
+"The Grand Canyon is where the Pony Rider Boys store their food,"
+returned Stacy quickly.  "Where did I leave off?"
+
+"You were lost in the Canyon," reminded Walter.
+
+"Oh, yes.  'Was seriously wounded in the Grand Canyon in a desperate
+battle with the largest lion ever caught in the mountains.  Assisted
+by Thaddeus Butler, also of Chillicothe, Mr. Brown succeeded in
+capturing the lion alive, after his bloodstained garments had been
+nearly stripped from his person.'"
+
+"The lion's bloodstained garments?" inquired Walter mildly.
+
+"No, mine, of course.  'Mr.  Brown, it is said, will recover from his
+wounds, though he will bear the scars of the conflict the rest of his
+life.' Ahem!  I guess that will hold the boys on our block for a
+time," finished Chunky, swelling out his chest.  "Yes, that'll make
+them prisoners for life," agreed Ned Rector.
+
+"I think I shall have to edit that account before it goes to the paper,"
+declared Professor Zepplin.
+
+"How can you edit it when you didn't see the affair?" demanded Chunky.
+
+"Editors are not supposed to see beyond the point of the pencil they
+are using," answered Ned.  "But they know the failings of the fellows
+who do the writing."
+
+"What do you know about it?  You never were an editor," scoffed Stacy.
+
+"No, but I'd like to be for about an hour after your article reached
+the 'Gazette' office."
+
+"How about giving that cat something to eat, Mr. Nance?" asked Tad, thus
+changing the subject.
+
+The guide shook his head.
+
+"He wouldn't eat; at least not for a while."
+
+"What do lions eat?" asked Walter.
+
+"That one tried to eat me," replied Stacy.  "I don't like the look in
+his eye at all.  It says, just as plain as if it were printed, 'I'd like
+to have you served up _a-la-mode_.'"
+
+At this juncture, Jim Nance walked over; with a burning brand in hand,
+to look at the cat's fastenings.  The lion jumped at him.  Jim poked
+the firebrand into the animal's face, which sent the cat back the
+full length of his tether.  After examining the fastenings carefully,
+Nance pronounced them so secure that the beast would not get away.
+
+The ponies had been tethered some distance from where the prize was
+tied, the dogs being placed with the ponies so that they might not be
+disturbed by the captive during the night and thus keep the camp awake
+with their barks and growls.
+
+After a time all hands went to bed, crawling into their blankets,
+where they were soon fast asleep.  Late in the night Nance sat up.
+He thought he had heard the lion growl.  Stepping to the door of the
+tent he listened.  Not a sound could be heard save the mysterious
+whisperings of the Canyon.  Jim went back to bed, not to awaken until
+the sun was up on the following morning.
+
+Tad Butler, hearing the guide rise after daylight, turned out at the
+same time.  Tad stepped outside, his first thought being for the
+captive.  The Pony Rider boy's eyes grew large as he gazed at the tree
+where the cat had been left the evening before.  There was no lion there.
+
+"Hey, Mr. Nance, did you move the cat?"
+
+"No.  Why?"
+
+"He isn't where we left him last night."
+
+"What?" Nance was out on the jump.  "Sure as you're alive he's gone.
+Now doesn't that beat all?"
+
+Tad had hurried over to the place where he stood gloomily surveying
+the scene.
+
+"I wonder where the rope and wire are?"
+
+"That's so.  He must have carried the whole business with him."
+
+"How could he?  How could he have untied the wire from the tree?  There
+is something peculiar about this affair, Dad."
+
+Whatever Dad's opinion might have been, he did not express it at the
+moment.  Instead he got down on all fours, examining the ground
+carefully, going over every inch of it for several rods about the scene.
+
+"Well this does git me," he declared, standing up, scratching his head
+reflectively.
+
+By that time the rest of the party had come out.
+
+"The lion's gone," shouted Tad.
+
+"What, my lion got away?" wailed Chunky.  "And he didn't take a chunk
+out of me to carry away with him?"
+
+"I had no idea we could hold him.  Of course he gnawed the rope in
+two," nodded the Professor.
+
+"He didn't get loose of his own accord, sir," replied the guide.
+
+"Then you don't mean to tell me that some person or persons liberated
+him?"
+
+"I don't mean to tell you anything, because I don't know anything about
+it.  I never was so befuddled in my life.  I'm dead-beat, Professor."
+
+Tad was gloomy.  He had hoped to take the lion home with them, having
+already planned where he would keep the beast until the town, which he
+thought of presenting it to, had prepared a place for the gift.  Now his
+hopes had been dashed.  He had no idea that they would be able to get
+another lion.  It was not so easy as all that.  But how had the beast
+gotten away?  There was a mystery about it fully as perplexing as had
+been the loss of Stacy's rifle.  Tad was beginning to think, with Dad,
+that mysterious forces were, indeed, at work in the Grand Canyon.
+
+While he was brooding over the problem, Chunky, emulating the movements
+of the guide, was down on hands and knees, examining the ground.
+
+"Find any footprints?" called Ned in a jeering voice.
+
+Stacy did not reply.  His brow was wrinkled; his face wore a wise
+expression.
+
+"Look out that you don't get bitten," warned Walter mischievously.
+
+"By what?" demanded Stacy, glancing up.
+
+"Footprints," answered Ned.
+
+"Could any person have gotten in here and let the cat go without our
+having heard him, Mr. Nance?" asked Tad Butler.
+
+"I reckon he couldn't."
+
+"Did you hear anything in the night, Nance?" questioned the Professor.
+
+"Come to think of it, I did get up once.  I heard the cat growling, or
+thought I did, but after I had looked out and seen nothing, nor heard
+anything, I went back to bed again and didn't know anything more till
+sun-up.  I guess I'm pretty slow.  I'm getting old for a certainty."
+
+"No; there is something peculiar, something very strange about this
+affair, Professor," spoke up Tad.
+
+"Due wholly to natural causes," declared the Professor.
+
+"No, I reckon you're wrong there, Professor," said Nance.  "I'd have
+understood natural causes.  It's the unnatural causes that gets a
+fellow."
+
+"I've spotted it, I've spotted it!  I know who freed the lion!"
+howled Stacy.
+
+All hands rushed to him.
+
+"Who, what, how, where, when?" demanded five voices at once.
+
+"Yes, sir, I've found it.  That lion-----"
+
+"Don't joke," rebuked the Professor.
+
+"I'm not joking.  I know what I'm talking about.  That cat was let go
+by a one-legged Indian.  Now maybe you won't say I'm not a natural born
+sleuth," exclaimed the fat boy proudly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+THE FAT BOY DOES A GHOST DANCE
+
+
+"A one-legged Indian?" chorused the lads.
+
+"He's crazy," grumbled Dad.  "He has cat on the brain."
+
+"That's better than having nothing but hair on the brain," retorted
+Stacy witheringly.
+
+"How do you know a one-legged Indian has been here?" questioned Tad,
+seeing that Chunky was in earnest.
+
+"Look here," said the boy, pointing to a moccasin print in the soft
+turf at that point.  "There's the right foot.  Where's the left?  Why
+there wasn't any left, of course.  He had only one foot."
+
+"Then he must have carried a crutch," laughed Ned.  "Look for the crutch
+mark and then you'll have the mystery solved."
+
+Jim Nance chuckled.  Stacy regarded the guide with disapproving eyes.
+
+"Tell me so I can laugh too," begged Chunky soberly.
+
+"Why, you poor little tenderfoot, don't you know how that one track got
+there?"
+
+Chunky shook his head.
+
+"Well, that cowardly half breed that you call Chow was crossing the
+rocks here when the cat made a pass at him.  Chow made a long leap.
+One foot struck there, the other about ten feet the other side.  He
+hadn't time to put the second foot down else the cat would have got
+him.  A one-legged Indian!  Oh, help!"
+
+"Haw-haw-haw!" mocked Stacy, striding away disgustedly while the shouts
+of his companions were ringing in his burning ears.
+
+But the mystery was unsolved.  Tad did not believe it ever would be,
+though he never ceased puzzling over it for a moment.  That day no one
+got a lion, though on the second day following Ned Rector shot a small
+cat.  Tad did not try to shoot.  He wandered with Chunky all over the
+peaks and through the Canyon in that vicinity trying to rope more lions.
+
+"You let that job out," ordered the guide finally.  "Don't you know
+you're monkeying with fire?  First thing you know you won't know
+anything.  One of these times a cat'll put you to sleep for a year of
+Sundays."
+
+"I guess you are right.  Not that I am afraid, but there is no sense
+in taking such long chances.  I'll drop it.  I ought to be pretty well
+satisfied with what I have done."
+
+Tad kept his word.  He made no further attempts to rope mountain lions.
+In the succeeding few days three more cats were shot.  It was on the
+night of the fourth day after the escape of the captive that at
+something very exciting occurred in Camp Butler.
+
+The camp was silent, all its occupants sound asleep, when suddenly they
+were brought bounding from their cots by frightful howls and yells of
+fear.  The howls came from the tent of Stacy Brown.  Stacy himself
+followed, leaping out into what they called the company street, dancing
+up and down, still howling at the top of his voice.  Clad in pajamas,
+the fat boy was unconsciously giving a clever imitation of an Indian
+ghost dance.
+
+Professor Zepplin was the first to reach the fat boy.  He gave Chunky
+a violent shaking, while Nance was darting about the camp to see that
+all was right.  He saw nothing unusual.
+
+"What is the meaning of this, young man?" demanded the Professor.
+
+"I seen it, I seen it," howled Stacy.
+
+"What did you see?"
+
+"A ghost!  I seen a ghost!"
+
+"You mean you 'saw' a ghost, not you 'seen'," corrected the Professor.
+
+"I tell you I _seen_ a ghost.  I guess if you'd seen a ghost you
+wouldn't stop to choose words.  You'd just howl like a lunatic in your
+own natural language-----"
+
+Dad hastily threw more wood on the dying camp fire.
+
+"I guess you had a nightmare," suggested Tad.
+
+"It wasn't a mare, it was a man," persisted Stacy.
+
+"He's crazy.  Pity he doesn't catch sleeping sickness," scoffed Ned.
+
+"Tell us what you did see," urged the Professor in a milder tone.
+
+"I---I was sleeping in---in there when all at once I woke up-----"
+
+"You thought you did, perhaps," nodded Walter.
+
+"I didn't think anything of the sort.  I know I did.  Maybe I'd heard
+something.  Well, I woke up and there---and there-----" Chunky's eyes
+grew big, he stared wildly across the camp fire as if the terrifying
+scene were once more before him.  "I woke up."
+
+"You have told us that before," reminded Dad, who had joined the group.
+
+"I woke up-----"
+
+"That makes four times you woke up," laughed Ned.  "You must, indeed,
+have had a restless night."
+
+"I woke up-----"
+
+"What again?"
+
+"You wouldn't laugh if you'd seen what I saw" retorted the fat boy, with
+serious face.  "There, right at the entrance of the tent, was a ghost!"
+
+"What kind of a ghost?" asked Dad.
+
+"Just a ghost-ghost.  It was all white and shiny and---br-r-r-r!"
+shivered the boy.  "It grinning.  I could see right through it!"
+
+"You must be an X-ray machine," declared Tad, chuckling.
+
+"It didn't need anything of that sort.  He was so shimmery that you
+could see right through him."
+
+"What became of the spook?  Did he fly up?" asked the guide.
+
+"No, the spook just spooked," replied Stacy.
+
+"How do you mean?" questioned Professor Zepplin.
+
+"He thawed out like a snowball, just melted away when I yelled."
+
+"Very thrilling, very thrilling.  Most remarkable.  A matter for
+scientific investigation," muttered the Professor, but whether he
+were in earnest or not the boys could not gather from his expressionless
+countenance.
+
+"What did Chunky have for supper?" asked Walter.
+
+"What didn't he have?" scoffed the guide.  "We have to eat fast or we
+wouldn't get enough to keep up our strength."
+
+"I guess I don't get any more than my share," retorted Stacy.  "I have
+to work for that, too."
+
+"Well, I'm going to bed," announced Ned Rector.  "You fellows may sit
+up here and tell ghost stories all the rest of the night if you want
+to.  It's me for the feathers."
+
+"You're right, Ned," agreed Tad.  "We are a lot of silly boys to be
+so upset over a fellow who has had a crazy nightmare.  Professor, don't
+you think you ought to give Stacy some medicine?"
+
+"Yes, give him something to make him sleep," chuckled Walter.
+
+The boy was interrupted by a roar from Ned Rector's tent.  Ned was
+shouting angrily.  He burst out into the circle of light shed by
+the camp fire, waving his hands above his head.
+
+"They've got mine, they've got mine!" he yelled, dancing about with
+a very good imitation of the ghost dance so recently executed by the
+fat boy.
+
+"Got what?" demanded Dad sternly, striding forward.
+
+"Somebody's stolen my rifle.  The spook's robbed me.  It's gone and
+all my cartridges and my revolver and-----"
+
+The camp was in an uproar instantly.  Chunky was nodding with
+satisfaction.
+
+"It wasn't stolen.  The spook just spooked it, that's all," he
+declared convincingly.
+
+"But you must be in error, Ned," cried the Professor.
+
+"I'm not.  It's gone.  I left it beside my bed.  It isn't there now.
+I tell you somebody's been in this camp and robbed me!"
+
+A sudden silence settled over the camp.  The boys looked into each
+other's faces questioningly.  Was this another mystery of the Bright
+Angel Gulch?  They could not understand.
+
+"Mebby the kid did see a ghost after all," muttered the guide.
+
+"The kid did.  And I guess the kid ought to know," returned Stacy
+pompously.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+IN THE HOME OF THE HAVASUPAIS
+
+
+An investigation showed that Ned Rector was right in his assertion.
+His rifle had been taken, likewise his revolver and his cartridges.
+It lent color to Stacy's statement that he had seen something, but no
+one believed that that something had been a ghost, unless perhaps the
+guide believed it, for having lived close to Nature so long, he might
+be a superstitious person.
+
+There was little sleep in the camp of the Pony Rider Boys for the rest
+of the night.  They were too fully absorbed in discussing the events
+of the evening and the mysteries that seemed to surround them.  First,
+Stacy had lost his rifle, the captive lion had mysteriously disappeared,
+and now another member of their party had lost his rifle and revolver.
+Dad directed the boys not to move about at all.  He hoped to find a
+trail in the morning, a trail that would give him a clue in case
+prowlers had been in the camp.
+
+A search in the morning failed to develop anything of the sort.  Not
+the slightest trace of a stranger having visited the camp was discovered.
+They gave up---the mystery was too much for them.
+
+That day Nance decided to move on.  Their camp was to remain at the same
+place, but the half breed was directed to sleep by day and to stay on
+guard during the night.  Jim proposed to take his charges into the
+wonderful Cataract Canyon, where they would pay a visit to the village
+of the Havasupai Indians.
+
+This appealed to the Pony Riders.  They had seen no Indians since
+coming to the Grand Canyon.  They did not know that there were Indians
+ranging through that rugged territory, red men who were as familiar
+with the movements of the Pony Rider Boys as were the boys themselves.
+
+They arrived at the Cataract Canyon on the morning of the second day,
+having visited another part of Bright Angel Gulch for a day en route.
+
+At the entrance to the beautiful canyon the guide paused to tell them
+something about it.
+
+"I will tell you," he said, "how the Havasupais came to select this
+canyon for their home.  When the several bands of red men, who
+afterwards became the great tribes of the south-west, left their
+sacred Canyon---mat-aw-we'-dit-ta---by direction of their
+Moses---Ka-that-ka-na'-ve---to find new homes, the Havasupai family
+journeyed eastward on the trail taken by the Navajos and the Hopi.
+One night they camped in this canyon.  Early the next day they took
+up their burdens to continue on their journey.  But as they were
+starting a little papoose began to cry.  The Kohot of the family,
+believing this to be a warning from the Great Spirit, decided to
+remain in the canyon.
+
+"They found this fertile valley, containing about five hundred acres of
+level land.  They called the place Ha-va-sua, meaning 'Blue Water,' and
+after a time they themselves were known, as Havasupai---'Dwellers By the
+Blue water'.  They have been here ever since."
+
+"Most interesting, most interesting," breathed the Professor.  "But how
+comes it that this level stretch of fertile land is found in this rugged,
+rocky canyon, Nance?"
+
+"That's easily answered.  During hundreds of years the river has
+deposited vast quantities of marl at the upper ends of this valley.  Thus
+four great dams have been built up forming barriers across the canyon.
+These dams have quite largely filled up, leaving level stretches of land
+of great richness."
+
+"Do they work the land?" asked Tad.
+
+"In a primitive way, they do, probably following the methods they
+learned from the cliff dwellers, who occupied the crude dwellings you
+have seen all along these walls in the canyons here."
+
+The Cataract Canyon proved to be the most interesting of all that the
+boys had seen for variety and beauty.  The Havasu River, foaming in
+torrents over Supai and Navajos Falls, fifty and seventy-five feet high,
+respectively, they found gliding through a narrow canyon for half a
+mile, in a valley matted with masses of trees, vines and ferns, the
+delicate green of whose foliage contrasted wonderfully with the dead
+gray walls of the deep, dark canyon at that point.
+
+For some three miles below this the Pony Riders followed the
+smoothly-gliding stream through a canyon whose straight up and down
+walls of gray limestone seemed to meet overhead in the blue of the sky.
+Below they seemed to be in the tropics.  During that first day in the
+Cataract they saw another wonder, that of the filmy clouds settling down
+and forming a roof over the Canyon.  It was a marvelous sight before
+which the Pony Rider Boys were lost in wonder.
+
+The Bridal Veil Falls they thought the most beautiful wonder of its
+kind they had ever seen.  Here they saw the crystal waters dashing in
+clouds of spray through masses of ferns, moss and trees, one hundred
+and seventy-five feet perpendicularly into a seething pool below.
+
+Their delight was in the innumerable caves found along the Canyon.  In
+these were to be seen flowers fashioned out of the limestone,
+possessing wonderful colors, scintillating in the light of the torches,
+reds that glowed like points of fire, stalactites that glistened like
+the long, pointed icicles they had seen hanging from the eaves of
+their homes in Chillicothe.  They discovered lace-work in most delicate
+tints, masses and masses of coral and festoons of stone sponges in all
+the caves they visited.  There were little caves leading from larger
+caves, caves within caves, caves below caves, a perfect riot of caves
+and labyrinths all filled with these marvelous specimens of limestone.
+
+"I think I would be content to live here always," breathed Tad after
+they had finished their explorations of the caves and passed on into a
+perfect jungle of tropical growth on their way to Ko-ho-ni-no, the
+canyon home of the Havasupais.
+
+"You'd never be lonesome here," smiled Nance.
+
+"Why don't you live down here, then?" asked Ned.
+
+"Perhaps I don't live so far from here, after all," rejoined the guide.
+
+"Do they have ghosts in this canyon?" asked Chunky apprehensively.
+
+"Full of them!"
+
+"Br-r-r!" shivered the fat boy.
+
+"A wonderful place for scientific research," mused the Professor.
+
+"Why don't you stay in Bright Angel for a while and study ghosts?"
+suggested Stacy.
+
+"I decline to be drawn into so trivial a discussion," answered Professor
+Zepplin severely.
+
+"You wouldn't think it was trivial were you to see one of those things."
+
+"Perhaps the Professor, too, has overloaded his stomach some time before
+going to bed," spoke up Tad Butler.
+
+"You are mistaken, young man.  I never make a glutton of myself," was
+the grim retort.
+
+"Now will you be good, Tad Butler?" chuckled Walter Perkins.
+
+"Yes, I have nothing more to say," answered Tad, with a hearty laugh.
+
+"We are getting down on the level now," the guide informed them.
+
+Halting suddenly, Nance pointed to an overhanging ledge about half a
+mile down the valley.  The boys gazed, shading their eyes, wondering
+what Nance saw.
+
+"I see," said Tad.
+
+"Then you see more than do the rest of us," answered Ned.  "What is it?"
+
+"It looks to me like a man."
+
+"You have good eyes," nodded Nance.
+
+"Is it a---a man?" questioned Chunky.
+
+"Yes, it is an Indian lookout.  He sees us and is trying to decide
+whether or not our mission is a friendly one."
+
+"Indians! Wow!" howled Chunky.
+
+"We are in their home now, so behave yourself," warned Nance.
+
+The Havasu River, which the riders followed, extended right on through
+the village, below which were many scattering homes of the red men, but
+the majority of them lived in the village itself.  Almost the entire
+length of the creek, both in the village and below, the river is
+bordered with cottonwood, mesquite and other green trees, that furnish
+shade for the quaint village nestling in the heart of the great
+Canyon.
+
+The boys followed the water course until finally they were approached
+by half a dozen men---indians---who had come out to meet them.
+
+Nance made a sign.  The Indians halted, gazed, then started forward.
+In the advance was the Kohot or native chief.
+
+"Hello, Tom," greeted the guide.
+
+"How!" said the chief.
+
+"Tom is a funny name for an Indian," observed Chunky.
+
+"His name is Chick-a-pan-a-gi, meaning 'the bat'," answered Jim
+smilingly.
+
+"He looks the part," muttered the fat boy.
+
+"Tom, I've brought some friends of mine down to see you and your folks.
+Have you anything to eat?"
+
+"Plenty eat."
+
+"Good."
+
+"Plenty meala, meula.  Kuku.  No ski," answered the chief, meaning that
+they were stocked with flour, sugar, but no bacon.
+
+"I know that language," confided Stacy to Tad.  "It's Hog Latin."
+
+"Magi back-a-tai-a?" asked the chief.
+
+"Higgety-piggety," muttered Chunky.
+
+"He means, 'have we come from the place of the roaring sound?'"
+translated Nance.
+
+"You bet we have.  Several of them," spoke up Ned.
+
+"Doesn't he speak English?" asked Walter.
+
+"Yes, he will soon.  He likes a confidential chat with me in his own
+language first.  By 'the place of the roaring sound' he means the big
+Canyon.  How is Jennie, Tom?"
+
+"Chi-i-wa him good."
+
+"That's fine.  We'll be moving along now.  We are tired and want to
+rest and make peace with Chick-a-pan-gi and his people," said Nance.
+
+The Kohot bowed, waved a hand to his followers, who turned, marching
+stolidly back toward the village, followed by the chief, then by
+Nance and his party.
+
+"This sounds to me as if it were going to be a chow-chow party,"
+grinned Stacy.
+
+"For goodness' sake, behave yourself.  Don't stir those Indians up.
+They are friendly enough, but Indians are sensitive," advised Tad.
+
+"So am I," replied Chunky.
+
+"You may be sorry that you are if you are not careful.  I shall be
+uneasy all the time for fear you'll put your foot in it," said Tad.
+
+"Just keep your own house in order.  Mine will take care of itself.
+There's the village."
+
+"Surely enough," answered Tad, gazing inquiringly toward the scattered
+shacks or ha-was, as the native houses were called.  These consisted
+of posts set up with a slight slant toward the center, over which was
+laid in several layers the long grass of the canyon.  Ordinarily a
+bright, hued Indian blanket covered the opening.  A tall man could not
+stand upright in a Havasupai ha-wa.  They were merely hovels, but they
+were all sufficient for these people, who lived most of their lives out
+in the open.
+
+The street was full of gaunt, fierce-looking dogs that the boys first
+mistook for coyotes.  The dogs, ill-fed, were surly, making friends
+with no one, making threatening movements toward the newcomers in
+several instances.  One of them seized the leg of Chunky's trousers.
+
+"Call your dog off, Chief Chickadee!" yelled the fat boy.
+
+The Indian merely grunted, whereupon the fat boy laid a hand on the
+butt of his revolver.  A hand gripped his arm at the same time.  The
+hand was Tad Butler's.
+
+"You little idiot, take your hand away from there or I'll put a head
+on you right here!  The dog won't hurt you." Tad was angry.
+
+"No, you've scared him off, now.  Of course he won't bite me, but he
+would have done so if he hadn't caught sight of you."
+
+"I must be good dog medicine then," replied Tad grimly.  "But, never
+mind," he added, with a smile, "just try to behave yourself for a
+change."
+
+About that time Chief Tom was leading out his squaw by an ear.
+
+"White man see Chi-i-wa," grinned the chief.
+
+Chi-i-wa gave them a toothless smile.  She was the most repulsive-looking
+object the boys ever had looked upon.  Chi-i-wa's hair came down to the
+neck, where it had been barbered off square all the way around.  This
+was different from her august husband's.  His hair lay in straight
+strands on his shoulders, while a band of gaudy red cloth, the badge of
+his office, was twisted over The forehead, binding the straight, black
+locks at the back of the head.
+
+The squaw wore baggy trousers bound at the bottom with leggings, while
+over her shoulder was draped a red and white Indian blanket that was
+good to look upon.  The brilliant reds of the blankets all through the
+village lent a touch of color that was very pleasing to the eye.
+
+The chief's son was then brought out to shake hands with the white
+men, while Chi-i-wa squatted down and appeared to lose all interest
+in life.  Dogs and children were by this time gathered about in great
+numbers regarding the new comers with no little curiosity.
+
+The chief's son was introduced to the boys by Nance as "Afraid Of His
+Face."
+
+Stacy surveyed the straight-limbed but ugly faced young buck critically.
+
+"I don't blame him," said the fat boy.
+
+"Don't blame him for what?" snapped Nance.
+
+"For being afraid of his face.  So am I."
+
+The boys snickered, but their faces suddenly sobered at a sharp glance
+from the piercing eyes of the Kohot.
+
+"Mi-ki-u-la," said Afraid Of His Face, pointing to the much-soiled
+trousers of Stacy Brown.
+
+"He likes your trousers, he says," grinned the guide.
+
+"Well, he can't have them, though he certainly does need trousers,"
+decided Stacy reflectively, studying the muscular, half-naked limbs of
+the young buck.  "He couldn't very well appear in polite society in
+that rig, could he, Tad?"
+
+"Not unless he were going in swimming," smiled Tad.
+
+It was at this point that Tad Butler himself came near getting into
+difficulties.  The chief's son, having been ordered in a series of
+explosive guttural sounds to do something, had started away when a
+yellow, wolfish looking cur got in way.  Afraid Of His Face gave the
+dog a vicious kick, then as if acting upon second thought he grabbed
+up the snarling dog, and twisting its front legs over on its back,
+dropped the yelping animal, giving it another kick before it touched
+the ground.
+
+Tad's face went fiery red.  He could not stand idly and witness the
+abuse of an animal.  The lad leaped forward and stood confronting the
+young buck with flaming face.  Tad would have struck the Indian had
+Nance not been on the spot.  With a powerful hand he thrust Tad behind
+him, saying something in the Indian language to Afraid Of His Face,
+which caused the buck to smile faintly and proceed on his mission.
+
+"If you had struck him you never would have gotten out of here alive,"
+whispered the guide.  Stacy had been a witness to the proceeding.  He
+smiled sarcastically when Tad came back to where the fat boy was
+standing.
+
+"Folks who live in glass houses, should not shy rocks," observed the
+fat boy wisely.
+
+By that time the squaws were setting out corn cakes, dried peaches and
+a heap of savory meat that was served on a bark platter.  The meal was
+spread on a bright blanket regardless of the fact that grease from the
+meat was dripping over the beautiful piece of weaving.  The boys thought
+it a pity to see so wonderful a piece of work ruined so uselessly, but
+they made no comment.  Then all sat down, the Indians squatting on
+their haunches, while the white men seated themselves on the ground.
+There were neither knives nor forks.  Fingers were good enough for the
+noble red man.
+
+First, before beginning the meal, the Kohot lighted a great pipe and
+took a single puff.  Then he passed it to Professor Zepplin, who, with
+a sheepish look at the Pony Rider Boys, also took a puff.
+
+Stacy came next.  The chief handed the pipe to the fat boy in person.
+Stacy's face flushed.
+
+"Thank you, but I don't smoke," he said politely.  The lines of the
+chief's face tightened.  It was an insult to refuse to smoke the pipe
+of peace when offered by the Kohot.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+CHUNKY GETS A TURKISH BATH
+
+
+"Put it to your lips.  You don't have to smoke it," whispered Dad.  "It
+won't do to refuse."
+
+Stacy placed the stem to his lips, then, to the amazement of his
+fellows, drew heavily twice, forcing the smoke right down into his
+lungs.
+
+Stacy's face grew fiery red, his cheeks puffed out.  Smoke seemed to
+be coming out all over him.  Ned declared afterwards that Stacy must
+be porous, for the smoke came out of his pockets.  Then all of a
+sudden the fat boy coughed violently, and tumbled over backwards,
+choking, strangling, howling, while the Professor hammered him between
+the shoulders with the flat of his hand.
+
+"You little idiot, why did you draw any of the stuff in?" whispered
+Professor Zepplin.
+
+"Da---Da---Dad to---to---told me to!  Ackerchew!  Oh, wow!"
+
+More choking, more sneezing and more strangling.  The Professor laid
+the boy on the grass a little distance from the table, where not a
+smile had appeared on a single face.  The Indians were grave and
+solemn, the Pony Rider Boys likewise, although almost at the
+explosive point.  The others had merely passed the Pipe of peace
+across their lips and handed it on to the next.  In this manner it had
+gone around the circle.
+
+Then all hands began dipping into the meat with their fingers.  This
+was too much for the red-faced boy lying on the grass.  He sat up,
+uttered a volley of sneezes then unsteadily made his way back to the
+blanket table and sat down in his place.  The Indians paid no
+attention to him, though sly glances were cast in his direction by
+his companions.  For once, Ned Rector was discreet enough not to make
+any remarks.  He knew that any such would call forth unpleasant words
+from Stacy.
+
+The fat boy helped himself liberally to the meat.  He tasted of it
+gingerly at first, then went at it greedily.
+
+"That is the finest beef I ever ate," he said enthusiastically.
+
+"You shouldn't make remarks about the food," whispered Tad.  "They may
+not like it."
+
+"I hope they don't like it.  There'll be all the more left for me."
+
+"I don't mean the food, I mean your remarks about it."
+
+"Oh!"
+
+"How many persons are there in your tribe, chief?" asked the Professor
+politely.
+
+The chief looked at Dad.
+
+"Two hundred and fifty, Professor," the guide made answer for their host.
+"They are a fine lot of Indians, too."
+
+"Including the squaws, two hundred and fifty?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Do they not sit down with us?" asked Professor Zepplin, glancing up
+at Chi-i-wa and some of her sisters, who were standing muffled in their
+blankets, despite the heat of the day, gazing listlessly at the diners.
+
+"Certainly not in the presence of the white man or heads of other
+tribes," answered Jim.
+
+"Say, what is this meat?" whispered Chunky again, helping himself to
+another slice.
+
+"Don't you know what that is?" answered Ned Rector.
+
+"No.  If I did, I shouldn't have asked."
+
+"Why, that's lion meat."
+
+"Li---li---lion meat?" gasped the boy.
+
+"Sure thing."
+
+Stacy appeared to suffer a sudden loss of appetite.  He grew pale about
+the lips, his head whirled dizzily.  Whether it were from the pipe of
+peace or the meat, he never knew.  He did know that he was a sick boy
+almost on the instant.  With a moan he toppled over on his back.
+
+"I'm going to die," moaned the fat boy.  "Carry me off somewhere.  I
+don't want to die here," he begged weakly.
+
+They placed him under the shade of a tree but instead of getting better
+the boy got worse: The Professor was disturbed.
+
+"Put pale-face boy in to-hol-woh," grunted the chief.  "To-hol-woh!"
+he exclaimed sharply.
+
+Three squaws ran to a low structure of branches that were stuck into
+the ground, bent in and secured at the middle until it resembled an
+Esquimo hut in shape.  The frame made by the branches was uncovered,
+but the women quickly threw some brightly colored blankets over the
+frame, the boys watching the proceeding with keen interest.  They
+then hauled some hot rocks from a fire near by, thrusting these under
+the blankets into the enclosure, after which a pail of water also was
+put inside.
+
+"Put fat boy in," commanded the Kohot.  "Take um clothes off."
+
+Chunky demurred feebly at this.  The Professor glanced at Dad inquiringly.
+Dad nodded, grinning from ear to ear.
+
+"It's a sort of Russo-Turkish bath.  It'll do him good.  Wouldn't mind
+one myself right now," said Nance.
+
+"All right, boys, fix him up and get him in."
+
+"Dress him down, you mean," chuckled Ned.
+
+At a word from the chief the squaws stumped listlessly to their ha-was
+and were seen no more for some time.  About this time the Medicine man,
+a tall, angular, eagle-eyed Havasu, appeared on the scene, examining
+the to-hol-woh critically.
+
+"What shall we do with him now?" called Tad, after they had stripped
+off all of Chunky's clothes except his underwear.
+
+"Chuck him in," ordered the guide.
+
+The Pony Rider Boys were filled with unholy glee at the prospect.  They
+picked up the limp form of their companion, Stacy being too sick to
+offer more than faint, feeble protests.  They tumbled him into what
+Ned called "The Hole In The Wall."
+
+By this time the hot stones in the enclosure had raised the temperature
+of the to-hol-woh considerably.  Stacy did not realize how hot it was
+at first, but he was destined to learn more about it a few minutes later.
+
+Now the Medicine Man began to chant weirdly, calling upon the Havasupai
+gods, Hoko-ma-ta and To-cho-pa, which translated by the guide was:
+
+_"Let the heat come and enter within us, reach head, face and lungs,
+Go deep down in stomach, through arms, body, thighs.  Thus shall we be
+purified, made well from all ill, Thus shall we be strengthened to keep
+back all that can harm, For heat alone gives life and force."_
+
+_"Let heat enter our heads, Let heat enter our eyes, Let heat
+enter our ears, Let heat enter our nostrils---"_
+
+Up to this time no sounds had come from the interior of the to-hol-woh.
+But now the fat boy half rolled out, gasping for breath.  Ned, having
+picked up a paddle that lay near this impromptu Turkish bath,
+administered a resounding slap on Stacy's anatomy, while Tad and
+Walter threw him back roughly into the to-hol-woh.
+
+Chunky moaned dismally.
+
+"I'm being burned alive," he groaned.  "They're torturing me to death."
+
+_"Let heat enter the feet, Let heat enter the knees, Let heat enter
+the legs---"_
+
+"Lemme out of here!" yelled the sick boy, thrusting a tousled head
+through between the blankets covering the opening.
+
+They pushed him back.
+
+"It's the paddle for yours, and hard, if you come out before we tell
+you," cried Ned.
+
+"Stay in as long as you can, Stacy.  I am satisfied the treatment will
+benefit you," advised the Professor.
+
+"I'm cooking," wailed Chunky.
+
+"That's what you need.  You've been underdone all your life," jeered
+Rector.
+
+Throughout all of this the Havasus had sat about apparently taking
+no particular interest in the performance.  They had all seen it
+before so many, many times.  But Jim Nance's sides were shaking with
+laughter, and the Pony Rider Boys were dancing about in high glee.
+They did not get such a chance at Stacy Brown every day in the year,
+and were not going to miss a single second of this sort of fun.
+
+"A brave lion tamer ought not to be afraid of a little heat," suggested
+Walt.
+
+"That's so," agreed Ned.
+
+"For heat alone gives life and force," crooned the Medicine Man.
+
+He repeated the words of his chant twice over, naming pretty much every
+member in the body.  It was a long process, but no one save Stacy
+Brown himself wearied of it.
+
+At the conclusion of the second round of the chant, the Medicine Man,
+stooping over, sprinkled water upon the hot stones, reaching in under
+the blankets to do so.
+
+Instantly the to-hol-woh was filled with a cloud of fierce, biting
+steam, that made each breath seem a breath of fire.
+
+The Pony Rider Boys, understanding what this meant to the boy inside,
+unable to restrain themselves longer, gave vent to ear-splitting shouts
+of glee.  Even the Indians turned to gaze at them in mild surprise.
+
+"Take me out!  I'm on fire!" yelled the fat boy lustily.
+
+The Medicine Man thrust half a dozen other hot stones in, then sprinkled
+more water upon them.
+
+"There's one more steaming for Chunky," sang Tad.
+
+"There's one more roast for him," chanted Ned.
+
+"We'll roast him till he's done," added Walter.
+
+The Medicine Man sprinkled on more water.
+
+"Ow, wow!  Yeow, wow-wow!"
+
+Anguished howls burst from the interior of the to-hol-woh.  Then
+something else burst.  The peak of the bath house seemed to rise right
+into the air.  The sides burst out, flinging the blankets in all
+directions.  Then a red-faced boy leaped out, and with a yell, fled
+on hot feet to the silvery Havasu River, where he plunged into a deep
+pool, the water choking down his howls of rage and pain.
+
+The fat boy's Russo-Turkish bath had succeeded beyond the fondest
+expectations of his torturers.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+A MAGICAL CURE
+
+
+Pandemonium reigned in the Havasu village for a few minutes.  The
+Medicine Man had been bowled over in Stacy's projectile-like flight.
+The Medicine Man leaped to his feet, eyes flashing.  Some one pointed
+toward the creek.  The Medicine Man leaped for the river.
+
+Dad spoke sharply to the chief, whereupon the latter fired a volley of
+gutturals at the fleeing Medicine Man, who stopped so suddenly that he
+nearly lost his balance.
+
+"Is the water deep in there?" cried the Professor.
+
+"About ten feet," answered the guide.
+
+"He'll drown!"
+
+"No he won't drown, Professor," called Tad.  "Chunky can swim like a
+fish.  There he is now."
+
+A head popped up from the water, followed by a face almost as red as
+the sandstone rocks on the great cliffs glowing off there in the
+afternoon sun.
+
+"Oh, wow!" bellowed Stacy chokingly, as the waters swallowed him up
+again.  He came up once more and struck out for the bank, up which he
+struggled, then began racing up and down the edge of the stream yelling:
+
+"I'm skinned alive!  I'm flayed, disfigured!  I'm parboiled!  Pour a
+bottle of oil over me.  I tell you I'm-----"
+
+"You're all right.  Stop it!" commanded Tad sharply.
+
+"Sprinkle me with flour the way mother used to do."
+
+Tad walked over and laid a firm hand on the arm of the fat boy.
+
+"You go back there and wipe off, then put on your clothes, or I'll skin
+you in earnest.  I wouldn't be surprised if they'd scalp you if you
+continue to carry on in this way."
+
+"Sea---scalp me?" stammered Stacy.
+
+"Yes.  You surely have done enough to them to make them want to.  Did
+you know you knocked over the Medicine Man?"
+
+"Did I?"
+
+"You did."
+
+Stacy grinned.
+
+"I'm glad of it.  But that isn't a circumstance to what I'd like, to do
+to him if I could do it and get away with it.
+
+"Well, how does it feel to be roasted?" questioned the grinning Ned
+Rector, approaching them at this juncture.
+
+"Who put up this job on me?" demanded Stacy angrily.
+
+"Job?  Why, it wasn't a job.  You were a very sick man.  Your case
+demanded instant treatment---"
+
+"Say, what was that meat we had for dinner, Tad?" asked Chunky suddenly.
+
+"Deer meat."
+
+"Oh, fiddle!  Ned said it was cat meat and I---I got sick.  I'll get
+even with him for that."
+
+"How do you feel?" asked the smiling Professor, coming up and slapping
+the fat boy on the shoulder.
+
+"I---I guess I'm well, but I don't believe I'll be able to sit down or
+lie down all the rest of the summer.  No, don't ask me to put on my
+clothes.  I can't wear them.  My skin's all grown fast to my underwear.
+I'll have to wear these underclothes the rest of the season if I don't
+want to lose my skin.  Oh, I'm in an awful fix."
+
+"But you're well, so what's the odds?" laughed Tad.
+
+"It does brace a fellow up to have that---that---what do you call it?"
+
+"Hole In The Wall bath," nodded Ned.
+
+"That's just the trouble.  There wasn't any hole in the wall to let the
+heat out.  Oh, it was awful.  If you don't think it was, then some of
+you fellows get in there for a roast.  Oh, I'm sore!"
+
+Stacy limped off by himself, then stood leaning against a rock, still
+in his underwear, gazing moodily at the waters of Havasu River.  Stacy
+was much chastened for the time being.
+
+All at once the lad started.  Ned Rector had laid a hand on his shoulder.
+
+"Oh, it's you?"
+
+"Yes.  You aren't angry with me, are you, Chunky?"
+
+"Angry with you?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Did you ever have a sore lip, Ned?"
+
+"Of course I have," laughed Rector.
+
+"When you couldn't have laughed at the funniest story you ever heard?"
+
+"I guess that about describes it."
+
+"Well, I've got a sore lip all over my body.  If I were to be cross with
+you I'd crack the one big, sore lip and then you'd hear me yell,"
+answered the fat boy solemnly.  "No, I'm not angry with you, Ned."
+
+Rector laughed softly.
+
+"I don't want you to be.  I'm always having a lot of fun with you and
+I expect to have a lot more, for you are the biggest little idiot I
+ever saw in my life."
+
+"Yes, I am," agreed Stacy thoughtfully.  "But how can you blame me,
+with the company I keep?"
+
+"I've got nothing more to say, except that if you'll come back to
+what's his name's camp I'll help you put on your clothes.  Come along.
+Don't miss all the fun."
+
+Stacy decided that he would.  By the time he had gotten on his clothes
+he felt better.  He wandered off to another part of the village, where
+his attention was drawn to a game going on between a lot of native
+children who had squatted down on the ground.
+
+Stacy asked what the game was.  They told him it was "Hui-ta-qui-chi-ka,"
+which he translated into "Have-a-chicken."
+
+Most of these children were pupils at a school established by the
+United States government in the Canyon, and could speak a little
+English.  Chunky entered into conversation with them at once, asking
+the names of each, but he never remembered the name of any of them
+afterwards.  There was little Pu-ut, a demure faced savage with a
+string of glass beads around her neck; Somaja, round and plump,
+because of which she got her name, which, translated meant "watermelon."
+Then there was Vesna and many other names not so easy.  Chunky decided
+that he would like to play "Have-a-chicken," too.  The little savages
+were willing, so he took a seat in the semicircle with them.
+
+Before the semicircle was a circle of small stones, with an opening
+at a certain point.  This opening was called, Chunky learned,
+"Yam-si-kyalb-yi-ka," though the fat boy didn't attempt to pronounce
+it after his instructor.  In the centre of the circle was another flat
+stone bearing the musical name of "Taa-bi-chi."
+
+Sides were chosen and the game began.  The first player begins by
+holding three pieces of short stick, black on one side, white on the
+other.  These sticks are called "Toh-be-ya."  The count depends upon
+the way the sticks fall.  For instance, the following combinations will
+give an idea as to how the game is counted:
+
+Three white sides up, 10; three blacks, 5; two blacks and a white up, 3;
+two whites and a black up, 2, and so on in many different combinations.
+
+The reader may think this a tame sort of game, but Chunky didn't find
+it so.  It grew so exciting that the fat boy found himself howling
+louder than any of the savages with whom he was playing.  He was as
+much a savage as any of them, some of whom were of his own age.  Every
+time he made a large point, Stacy would perform a war dance, howling,
+"Have-a-chicken!  Have-a-chicken!"
+
+The chief's son, who also had come into the game without being invited,
+was playing next to Stacy.  Stacy in one of these outbursts trod on the
+bare feet of the young buck.
+
+Afraid Of His Face, adopting the methods of his white brethren, rose
+in his might and smote the fat boy with his fist.  Now, the spot
+where the fist of Afraid Of His Face landed had been parboiled in the
+"Hole In The Wall."  Stacy Brown howled lustily, then he sailed in,
+both fists working like windmills.  The Indian youngsters set up a
+weird chorus of yells and war whoops, while all hands from the chief's
+ha-wa started on a run for the scene.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+STACY AS AN INDIAN FIGHTER
+
+
+In the meantime there was a lively scrimmage going on near the
+"Have-a-chicken" circle.  The stones of the circle had been kicked
+away, the younger savages forming a human ring about the combatants.
+
+Afraid Of His Face was much the superior of the fat boy in physical
+strength, but he knew nothing of the tricks of the boxer.  Therefore
+Stacy had played a tattoo on the face of the Indian before the latter
+woke up to the fact that he was getting the worst of it.
+
+In an unguarded moment the young buck put a smashing blow right on
+Stacy's nose, now extremely sensitive from its near boiling in the
+"Hole In The Wall."
+
+Not being fast enough in the get away, the young buck received on his
+own face some of the blood that spurted from Brown's nose.
+
+"Ow-wow!" wailed Chunky, rendered desperate by the severe pain at this
+tender point.  But his rage made him cooler.  Chunky made a feint.
+As Afraid Of His Face dodged the feint Stacy bumped the young
+Indian's nose.
+
+"Have another," offered Stacy dryly, as his left drove in a blow that
+sent the young Indian to his back on the turf.  Frightened screams came
+from some of the young Indian girls, who gazed dismayed at the human
+whirlwind into which Stacy had been transformed.
+
+"Ugh!" roared Afraid Of His Face, and reached his feet again.  "Ugh!
+Boy heap die!  Plenty soon!"
+
+Again the combatants closed in.  There was a rattling give-and-take.
+
+"Here!  Stop that!" ordered Professor Zepplin, striding forward.  The
+chief and his Indians were coming up also.  The chief caught at one of
+the Professor's waving arms and drew him back.
+
+"Let um fight," grunted the chief.  He next spoke a few guttural words
+of command to his own people, who fell back, giving the combatants
+plenty of room.
+
+"Yes, let 'em have it out!" roared the boys.  "Stacy never will learn
+to behave, but this ought to help."
+
+Stacy, having it all his own way with his fists, now received a kick
+from the buck that nearly ended the fight.
+
+"Wow! That's your style, is it?" groaned Chunky, then he ducked, came
+up and planted a smashing blow on the buck's jaw that sent the latter
+fairly crashing to earth.
+
+That ended the fight.  Afraid Of His Face made a few futile struggles
+to get to his feet, then lay back wearily.  Chunky puffed out his chest
+and strutted back and forth a few times.
+
+"Huh!" grunted Chick-a-pan-a-gi.  "Fat boy heap brave warrior."
+
+"You bet I am.  But it's nothing.  You ought to see me in a real fight."
+
+"Hurrah for Chunky!" shouted Ned Rector.  "Hip, hip, hurrah!"
+
+Professor Zepplin now strode forward, laying a heavy hand on the fat
+boy's shoulder.
+
+"Ouch!" groaned Chunky.  "Don't do that Don't you know I haven't any
+skin on my body?"
+
+"You don't deserve to have any.  Be good enough to explain how this
+trouble arose?"
+
+The chief was asking the same question of the other young savages in
+his own language and they were telling him in a series of guttural
+explosions.
+
+"It was this way, I was playing the game with them when I stepped on
+Elephant Face's foot.  He didn't like it.  I guess he has corns on his
+feet as well as on his face.  He punched me.  I punched him back.  Then
+the show began.  We had a little argument, with the result that you
+already have observed," answered Stacy pompously.
+
+"You needn't get so chesty about it," rebuked Ned.
+
+"Chief," said the Professor, turning to Chick-a-pan-a-gi, "I don't
+know what to say.  I am deeply humiliated that one of our party should
+engage in a fight with---"
+
+"I didn't engage in any fight," protested Stacy.  "It wasn't a fight,
+it was just a little argument."
+
+"Silence!" thundered the Professor.
+
+"I trust you will overlook the action of this boy.  He was very much
+excited and-----"
+
+"Fat boy him not blame.  Fat boy him much brave warrior," grunted the
+chief.  "Afraid Of His Face he go ha-wa.  Stay all day, all night.  Him
+not brave warrior."
+
+The chief accentuated his disgust by prodding his homely son with the
+toe of a moccasin.  Afraid Of his Face got up painfully, felt gingerly
+of his damaged nose, and with a surly grunt limped off toward his own
+ha-wa, there to remain in disgrace until the following day.
+
+"Fat boy come smoke pipe of peace," grunted the chief.
+
+"No, thank you.  No more pieces of pipe for mine.  I've had one
+experience.  That's enough for a life time," answered Stacy.
+
+"Stacy, if I see any more such unseemly conduct I shall send you home
+in disgrace," rebuked the Professor as they walked back to the village.
+
+"The boy wasn't to blame, Professor," interceded Dad.  "The buck pitched
+into him first.  He had to defend himself."
+
+"No, don't be too hard on Chunky," begged Tad.  "You must remember that
+he wasn't quite himself.  First to be boiled alive, then set upon by
+an Indian, I should say, would be quite enough to set anyone off his
+balance."
+
+The Professor nodded.  Perhaps they were right, after all.  So long as
+the chief was not angry, why should he be?  The chief, in his
+unemotional way, seemed pleased with the result of the encounter.
+But Professor Zepplin, of course, could not countenance fighting.
+That was a certainty.  With a stern admonition to Chunky never to
+engage in another row while out with the Pony Rider Boys, the Professor
+agreed to let the matter drop.
+
+The day was well spent by that time, and the party was invited to pass
+the night in the village, which they decided to do.  The chief gave
+the Professor a cordial invitation to share his ha-wa with him, but
+after a sniff at the opening of the hovel Professor Zepplin decided
+that he would much prefer to sleep outside on the ground.  The others
+concluded that they would do the same.  The odors coming from the
+ha-was of the tribe were not at all inviting.
+
+After sitting about the camp fire all the evening, the Pony Rider Boys
+wrapped themselves in their blankets and lay down to sleep under the
+stars with the now gloomy walls of the Canyon towering above them, the
+murmur of the silvery Havasu in their ears.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+CONCLUSION
+
+
+The night was a restful one to most of the party, except as they were
+aroused by the barking of the dogs at frequent intervals, perhaps
+scenting some prowling animal in search of food.
+
+Chunky was awakened by Tad at an early hour.  The fat boy uttered a
+familiar "Oh, wow!" when he sought to get up, then lay back groaning.
+
+"Why, what's the matter?" demanded Butler.
+
+"My skin's shrunk," moaned Stacy.  "It fits me so tight I---I can't
+move."
+
+"His skin's shrunk," chorused the Pony Rider Boys.  "His skin is a
+misfit."
+
+"Take it back and demand a new suit if you don't like it," laughed Ned
+Rector.
+
+"It isn't any laughing matter.  I tell you it's shrunk," protested Stacy.
+
+"All right, it will do you good.  You'll know you've got a skin.  Last
+night you said it was all roasted off from you."
+
+"It was.  This is the new skin, about a billionth of an inch thick,
+and oh-h-h-h," moaned the lad, struggling to his feet.  "I wish you had
+my skin, Ned Rector.  No, I don't, either I---I wish yours were drawn
+as tightly as mine."
+
+"Come on for a run and you will feel better" cried Tad, grasping the
+fat boy by an arm and racing him down to the river and back,
+accompanied by a series of howls from Stacy.  But the limbering-up
+process was a success.  Stacy felt better.  He was able to do full
+justice to the breakfast that was served on the greasy blanket shortly
+afterwards.  For breakfast the white men shared their bacon with the
+chief, which the Indian ate, grunting appreciatively.
+
+Before leaving, the boys bought some of the finer specimens of the
+Indian blankets, which they got remarkably cheap.  They decided to do
+up a bale of these and send them home to their folks when they reached
+a place where there was a railroad.  At present they were a good many
+miles from a railway, with little prospect even of seeing one for a
+matter of several weeks.
+
+After breakfast they bade good-bye to the chief.  Chunky wanted to
+shake hands with Afraid Of His Face, but the chief would not permit
+his young buck to leave the ha-wa.  Chi-i-wa, the chief's wife, bade
+them a grudging good-bye without so much as turning her head, after
+which the party rode away, Chunky uttering dismal groans because the
+saddle hurt him, for the fat boy was still very tender.
+
+"I know what I'll do when I get home," he said.
+
+"So do I," laughed Tad.
+
+"Well, what'll I do, if you know so much about it?"
+
+"Why, you will puff out your chest and strut up and down Main Street
+for the edification of the natives of Chillicothe," answered Tad.
+
+"That's what he'll do, for sure," jeered Ned.  "But we'll be on hand
+to take him down a peg or two.  Don't you forget that, Chunky."
+
+Joking and enjoying themselves to the fullest, these brown-faced,
+hardy young travelers continued on, making camp that night by the
+roaring river, reaching Camp Butler the following forenoon.
+
+Chow, the half breed pack-train man, met them with a long face.  The
+party saw at once that something was wrong.
+
+"What's happened?" snapped Nance.
+
+"The dogs."
+
+"What about them?  Speak up."
+
+"Him dead," announced the half breed stolidly.
+
+"Dead?" cried Dad and the boys in one voice.
+
+"Him dead."
+
+"What caused their death?"
+
+The half breed shook his head.  All he knew was that two mornings before
+he had come in for breakfast, and upon going out again found the dogs
+stretched out on the ground dead.  That there was another mystery
+facing them the boys saw clearly.  Nance examined the carcasses of the
+dead hounds.  His face was dark with anger when he had finished.
+
+"It's my opinion that those hounds were poisoned," he declared.
+
+"Poisoned!" exclaimed the boys.
+
+"Yes.  There's some mysterious work being done around this camp.  I'm
+going to find out who is at the bottom of it; then you'll hear something
+drop that will be louder than a boulder falling off the rim of the
+Grand Canyon."
+
+"This is a most remarkable state of affairs." said the Professor.
+"Surely you do not suspect the man Chow?"
+
+"No, I don't suspect him.  It's someone else.  I had a talk with Chief
+Tom.  He told me some things that set me thinking."
+
+"What was it?" asked Tad.
+
+"I'm not going to say anything about it just now, but I am going to have
+this camp guarded after to-night.  We'll see whether folks can come in
+here and play tag with us in this fashion without answering to
+Jim Nance."
+
+"I'll bet the ghost has been here again," spoke up Stacy.
+
+"Ghost nothing!" exploded Nance.
+
+"That's what you said before, or words to that effect," answered the
+fat boy.  "You found I was right, though.  Yes, sir, there are spirits
+around these diggings.  One of them carried away my gun."
+
+"We will divide the night into watches after this.  I am not going to
+be caught napping again," announced Nance.
+
+That night the guide sat up all night.  Nothing occurred to arouse
+his suspicion.  Next day they went out lion hunting without dogs.
+Nance got a shot at a cat, but missed him.  The next day the Professor
+killed a cub that was hiding in a juniper tree.  It was his first kill
+and put the Professor in high good humor.  He explained all about it
+that night as they sat around the camp fire.  Then the boys made him
+tell the story over again.
+
+Nance took the first watch that night, remaining on duty until three
+in the morning, when he called Tad.  The latter was wide awake on the
+instant, the mark of a good woodsman.  Taking his rifle, he strolled
+out near the mustangs, where he sat down on a rock.  Tad was shivering
+in the chill morning air, but after a time he overcame that.  He grew
+drowsy after a half hour of waiting with nothing doing.
+
+All of a sudden the lad sat up wide awake.  He knew that he had heard
+something.  That something was a stealthy footstep.  The night was
+graying by this time, so that objects might be made out dimly.  Tad
+stood up, swinging his rifle into position for quick use.  For some
+moments he heard nothing further, then out of the bushes crept a
+shadowy figure.
+
+"Chunky's ghost," was the thought that flashed into the mind of the
+young sentry.  "No, I declare, if it isn't an Indian!"
+
+It was an Indian, but the light was too dim to make anything out of
+the intruder.  The Indian was crouched low and as Tad observed was
+treading on his toes, choosing a place for each step with infinite
+care.  The watcher now understood why no moccasin tracks had been
+found about the camp, for he had no doubt that this fellow was the
+one who was responsible for all the mysterious occurrences in camp
+up to that time.
+
+The Pony Rider boy did not move.  He wanted to see what the Indian
+was going to do.  Step by step the red man drew near to the canvas
+covered storage place, where they kept their supplies, arms, ammunition
+and the like.  Into this shack the Indian slipped.  Tad edged closer.
+
+"I wonder what he's after this time?" whispered the lad.  Tad thrilled
+with the thought that it had been left for him to solve the mystery.
+
+His question was answered when, a few moments later, the silent figure
+of the Indian appeared creeping from the opening.  He had something in
+his hands.
+
+"I actually believe the fellow is carrying away our extra rifles,"
+muttered the boy.
+
+That was precisely what the redskin was doing.  After glancing cautiously
+about, he started away in the same careful manner.  Tad could have shot
+the man, but he would not do it, instead, he raised the rifle.
+
+"Halt!" commanded the Pony Rider boy sharply.
+
+For one startled instant the Indian stood poised as if for a spring.
+Then he did spring.  Still gripping the rifles, he leaped across the
+opening and started away on fleet feet.  He was running straight toward
+where the ponies were tethered.
+
+Tad fired a shot over the head of the fleeing man, then started in
+pursuit.  The Indian slashed the tether of Buckey, Stacy Brown's
+mustang, and with a yell to startle the animal, leaped on its back and
+was off.
+
+"That's a game two can play at," gritted the Pony Rider, freeing his
+own pony in the same way and springing to its back.
+
+The shot and the yell had brought the camp out in a twinkling.  No one
+knew what had occurred, but the quick ears of the guide catching the
+pounding hoofs of the running mustangs, he knew that Tad was chasing
+someone.
+
+"Everybody stay here and watch the camp!" he roared, running for his
+own pinto, which he mounted in the same way as had the Indian and Tad
+Butler.
+
+Tad, in getting on Silver Face, had fumbled and dropped his rifle.
+There was no time to stop to recover it if he expected to catch the
+fleeing Indian.  Under ordinary circumstances the boy knew that Silver
+Face was considerably faster than Buckey.  But pursuit was not so easy,
+though the Indian, for the present, could go in but one direction.
+
+The spirited mustang on which Tad Butler was mounted, appearing to
+understand what was expected of him, swept on with the speed of the
+wind.  Small branches cut the face of the Pony Rider like knife-blades
+as he split through a clump of junipers, then tore ahead, fairly
+sailing over logs, boulders and other obstructions.
+
+The Pony Rider boy uttered a series of earsplitting yells.  His object
+was to guide Jim Nance, who, he felt sure, would be not far behind
+him.  The yells brought the guide straight as an arrow.  Tad could
+plainly hear the foot beats of Buckey as the two riders tore down the
+Canyon, each at the imminent risk of his life.
+
+"If he has a loaded gun, I'm a goner," groaned the lad.  "But the
+ones he stole are empty, thank goodness!  There he goes!"
+
+The Indian had made a turn to the left into a smaller canyon.  By
+this time the light was getting stronger.  Tad was able to make out his
+man with more distinctness.  The boy urged his pony forward with short,
+sharp yelps.  The Indian was doing the same, but Tad was gaining on him
+every second.  Now the boy uttered a perfect volley of shouts, hoping
+that Nance would understand when he got to the junction of the smaller
+canyon, that both pursued and pursuer had gone that way.
+
+Nance not only understood, but he could hear Tad's yells up the canyon
+upon arriving at the junction.
+
+"Stop or I'll shoot!" cried the boy.
+
+The Indian turned and looked back.  Then he urged Buckey on faster.
+That one act convinced Tad that the redskin had no loaded rifle, else
+he would have used it at that moment.
+
+With a yell of triumph the boy touched the pony with the rowels of his
+spurs.  Silver Face shot ahead like a projectile.  He was a tough
+little pony, and besides, his mettle was up.  Now Tad gained foot by
+foot.  He was almost up to the Indian, yelling like an Indian himself.
+
+The redskin tried dodging tactics, hoping that Tad would shoot past him.
+Tad did nothing of the sort.  The boy was watching his man with keen
+but glowing eyes.  The call of the wild was strong in Tad Butler at that
+moment.
+
+Suddenly the boy drew alongside.  Utterly regardless of the danger to
+himself, he did a most unexpected thing.  Tad threw himself from his
+own racing pony, landing with crushing force on top of the Indian.
+
+Of course the two men tumbled to the ground like a flash.  Then
+followed a battle, the most desperate in which Tad ever had been
+engaged.  The boy howled lustily and fought like a cornered mountain
+lion.  Of course his strength was as nothing compared with that of the
+Indian.  All Tad could hope to do would be to keep the Indian engaged
+until help arrived.
+
+Help did arrive within two minutes; help in the shape of Jim Nance, who,
+with the thought of his slain hounds rankling in his mind, was little
+better than a savage for the time being.
+
+"Here!" shouted Tad.  "Take him---hustle!"
+
+Then young Butler drew back, for Nance, seeing things red before his
+eyes, was hardly capable of knowing friend from foe.
+
+Whack! bump! buff!
+
+How those big fists descended!
+
+For three or four seconds only did the redskin make any defense.  Then
+he cowered, stolidly, taking a punishment that he could not prevent.
+
+"Don't kill the poor scoundrel, Dad!" yelled Tad, dancing about the pair.
+
+But still Nance continued to hammer the now unresisting Indian.
+
+"Stop it, Dad---stop it!" Tad called sternly.
+
+Then, as nothing else promised to avail, Tad rushed once more into
+the fray.
+
+Dad was weakening from his own enormous expenditure of strength.
+
+"Don't go any farther, Dad," Tad coaxed, catching one of Nance's arm
+and holding on.
+
+"I guess I have about given the fellow what he needed," admitted the
+guide, rising.
+
+As he stood above the Indian, Dad saw that the man did not move.
+
+"I hope you didn't kill him, Dad," Tad went on swiftly.
+
+"Why?" asked Jim Nance curiously.
+
+"I don't like killings," returned Tad briefly.  He bent over the Indian,
+finding that the latter had been only knocked out.
+
+"We'd better take the redskin back to camp, hadn't we?" queried Tad, and
+Jim silently helped.  In camp, the Indian was bound hand and foot.  The
+camp fire was lighted and Tad went to work to resuscitate the red man.
+
+At last the camp's prisoner was revived.
+
+"Now, let's ask him about the thieveries that have been going on,"
+suggested Ned Rector.
+
+"Humph!" grinned Dad.  "If you think you can make an Indian talk when
+he has been caught red-handed, then you try it."
+
+Not a word would the Indian say.  He even refused to look at his
+questioners, but lay on the ground, stolidly indifferent.
+
+"He's a prowling Navajo," explained Nance.  "You may be sure this is
+the fellow, Brown's 'spirit,' behind all our troubles.  He's the chap
+who stole Brown's rifle, who raided this camp, who set the lion free
+and who poisoned my dogs---so they wouldn't give warning."
+
+"But why should he want to turn the lion loose?" Tad wanted to know.
+
+"Because the Navajo Indians hold the mountain lion as sacred.  The
+Navajo believes that his ancestors' spirits have taken refuge in the
+bodies of the mountain lions."
+
+"I believe there must be a strong strain of mountain lion in this
+fellow, by the way he fought me," grimaced Tad.
+
+"What shall we do with this redskin?" Chunky asked.  "Shall we give
+him a big thrashing, or make him run the gauntlet?"
+
+"Neither, I guess," replied Jim Nance, who had cooled down.  "The
+wisest thing will be for us to take him straight to the Indian Agency.
+Uncle Sam pays agents to take care of Indian problems."
+
+It was late that afternoon when the boys and their poisoner arrived
+at the Agency.
+
+"I'll talk to him," said the agent, after he had ordered that the
+Indian be taken to a room inside.
+
+An hour later the agent came out.
+
+"The Navajo confesses to all the things you charge against him,"
+announced the government official.  "I thought I could make him talk.
+The redskin justifies himself by saying that your party made an effort
+to kill Navajo ancestors at wholesale."
+
+"Humph!" grunted Jim Nance.
+
+"What happens to the Navajo?" Walter asked curiously.
+
+"He'll be kept within bounds after this," replied the agent.  "For a
+starter he will be locked up for three months.  Some other Navajos
+were out, but we got them all back except this one.  Going back into
+the Canyon?"
+
+Indeed they were.  Late that afternoon the Pony Rider Boys began their
+journey of one hundred miles to the lower end of the Canyon.
+
+From that latter point they were to go on into still newer fields of
+exploration, in search of new thrills, and were far more certain than
+they realized at that time of experiencing other adventures that should
+put all past happenings in the shade.
+
+For the time being, however, we have gone as far as possible with the
+lads.  We shall next meet them in the following volume of this series,
+which is published under the title, "_The Pony Rider Boys With The
+Texas Rangers; Or, On the Trail of the Border Bandits_."
+
+A rare treat lies just ahead for the reader of this new narrative, in
+which acquaintance will also be made with one of the most famous bodies
+of police in all the world, the Texas Rangers.
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Pony Rider Boys in the Grand Canyon
+by Frank Gee Patchin
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN THE GRAND CANYON ***
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