d and gnarled.

"Hyar's the canyon!" sang out Bill, presently.

We came out on the edge of a deep hollow. It was half a mile wide. I
looked down a long incline of sharp tree-tips. The roar of water rose
from below, and in places a white rushing torrent showed. Above loomed
the snow-clad peak, glistening in the morning sun. How wonderfully far
off and high it still was!

To my regret it was shut off from my sight as we descended into the
canyon. However, I soon forgot that. I saw a troop of coyotes, and many
black and white squirrels. From time to time huge birds, almost as big
as turkeys, crashed out of the thickets and whirred away. They flew
swift as pheasants, and I asked Dick what they were.

"Blue grouse," he replied. "Look sharp now, Ken, there are deer ahead of
us. See the tracks?"

Looking down I saw little, sharp-pointed, oval tracks. Presently two
foxes crossed an open patch not fifty yards from us, but I did not get
a glimpse of the deer. Soon we reached the bottom of the canyon, and
struck into another trail. The air was full of the low roar of tumbling
water. This mountain-torrent was about twenty feet wide, but its
swiftness and foam made it impossible to tell its depth. The trail led
up-stream, and turned so constantly that half the time Bill, the leader,
was not in sight. Once the sharp crack of his rifle halted the train. I
heard crashings in the thicket. Dick yelled for me to look up the slope,
and there I saw three gray deer with white tails raised. I heard a
strange, whistling sound.

On going forward we found that Bill had killed a deer and was roping it
on his pack-horse. As we proceeded up the canyon it grew narrower,
and soon we entered a veritable gorge. It was short, but the floor was
exceedingly rough, and made hard going for the horses. Suddenly I was
amazed to see the gorge open out into a kind of amphitheatre several
hundred feet across. The walls were steep, and one side shelved out,
making a long, shallow cave, In the center of this amphitheatre was a
deep hole from which the mountain stream boiled and bubbled.

"Hyar we are," said Bill, and swung out of his saddle. The other men
followed suit, and helped Dick and me down. Stockton untied our hands,
saying he reckoned we would be more comfortable that way. Indeed we
were. My wrists were swollen and blistered. Stockton detailed the
Mexican to keep guard over us.

"Ken, I've heard of this place," said Dick. "How's that for a spring