antment. We saw nearer to
us the wide landscape of the plateau land.

CHAPTER XXIV

THE COLORADO RIVER

"See below there!" exclaimed Jim. "It looks as if a big river comes in
there. It must be the Grand."

"Then we shall be on the Colorado River," I said. "I wonder if we will
have any trouble navigating where the two of them come together?"

"I have read that there is quite a whirlpool, formed by the junction,"
replied Jim, "we will have to be careful."

"From the appearance of things we ought to be able to reach it
to-morrow," suggested Tom.

"We certainly will if we have good luck," responded Jim.

"Do you suppose that we will find any gold or precious stones in the
country that we run into below the Grand?" questioned Tom, who never
lost sight of the practical side of our cruise.

"We stand a first rate chance," replied Jim. "One thing is certain and
that is that there has not been very many ahead of us to get away with
any valuables that might be near the river. I don't suppose that there
have been more than a dozen persons down this river since the world
first started rolling."

"Well, I certainly hope that we will find something that will repay us
for all the risks that we have run the past months," remarked Tom.

"Just think of the experience you are getting. Don't you consider that
valuable?" asked Jim.

"I have got a goldarned sore leg if that's what you mean, where that
rock hit me," growled Tom.

"You've got a sore head, but you always had that," added Jim.

"It isn't sore from being swelled," Tom retorted, bitingly.

"If I ever want a lawyer with a razor-backed tongue, I will employ you,"
laughed Jim.

"You won't ever have the money, unless you strike something soon,"
remarked Tom.

"Let's not quarrel among ourselves, so long as we have the river and the
Indians to scrap with," I suggested.

"Very well, old sox, we won't," concluded Jim, and Tom kept silent.

So peace was established, until the next outbreak.

It was the middle of the afternoon of the following day that we neared
the junction of the two rivers, the Grand and the Green. We had
considerable curiosity to see the uniting of the two great streams. We
imagined that the surroundings would be "Grand and Green" as Jim phrased
it, but we were to be disappointed.

The walls were neither so high nor so impressive as those we had already
passed through. They appeared to be about twelve hundred feet high and
were set ba