Part 19 (1/2)

”And did you overtake theri at the belts of two of his warriors

”They were on foot We were mounted,” he said quietly ”They deserved to die We had not injured them, or stolen their wives or horses They deserved to die”

This was unanswerable, and no one spoke, the Indians going off to bury their dead co a suitable crevice in the depths of the ravine near which they had been slain, laying the from their necks, their weapons ready to their hands, and their buffalo robes about therounds

This done they were covered first with bushes, and then with stones, and the Indians returned to camp

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

IN NATURE'S STOREHOUSE

All this seemed to add terribly to the sense of insecurity felt by the Doctor, and Joses was not slow to speak out

”We may have a rowled ”I don't think we're very safe”

”Joses is right,” said the Doctor; ”we must see if there is a rich deposit of silver here, and then, if all seeether a force of recruits so as to be strong enough to resist the Indians, should they be so ill advised as to attack us, and ready to work the rowled Joses

The Doctor coughed with a look of vexation upon his countenance, and, beckoning to the chief, he took his rifle Bart rose, and leaving Joses in charge of the cae of the canyon

There was no likelihood of ene; but to the little party every shrub and bush, every stone, see-place for a treacherous ene the beneath the perpendicular walls of the ht up froed patch of broken rock, and by what seereat post stuck up there by human hands, but which proved, on a nearer approach, to be the rehtning, the whole of the upper portion having been charred away, leaving only soround

A short distance farther on, as they were close in by the steep wall of rock, they cae piece had slipped down fro sharply round this, the Beaver pointed to a narrow rift just wide enough to allow of the passage of one ned to the Doctor to enter, and clih stones, the latter passed in and out of sight

”Bart! quick,in to help hiht, in some perilous adventure, but only to stop short and stare at the long sloping narrow passage fringed with prickly cactus plants, which slope ran evidently up the side of the mountain

”Why, it's the way up to the top,” cried Bart ”I wonder who made it”

”Dame Nature, I should say, my boy,” said the Doctor ”We must explore this Why, what a natural fortification! One ainst hundreds”

Just then the chief appeared below thened to them to come down

The Doctor hesitated, and then descended

”Let's see what he has to show, Bart I have seen no silver yet”

They followed the Beaver down, and he led theh the narrow ravine, oncethe canyon, and now, in the full glow of the sunny afternoon, they were able to realise the grandeur of the scene where the river ran swiftly down below, fully a thousand feet, in a bed of its own, shut out from the upper world by the perpendicular walls of rock

At the first glance it seemed that it would be impossible to descend, but on farther examination there seemed in places to be rifts and crevices and shelves, dotted with trees and plants of the richest grohere it ht be likely that skilful climbers could make a way down

Fro, for while all up in the plain was arid and grey, and the trees and shrubs that grew there seereen, all beloas of the richest verdant hues, and lovely groves of woodland were interspersed with soft patches of waving grass that flourished where stormy winds never reached, and moisture and heat were abundant