times."

"This is no canoe, but I know you will do," replied Jim. "It's mighty
lucky you dropped in on us when you did. Tom has had a sore leg ever
since an Indian back there in another canyon dropped a rock on him."

"It was luck that Juarez did come along now," I joined in. "We will need
him bad enough when we come to the 'Gorge of the Grand Canyon.'"

"That's the place!" said Jim. "I have read that it is over six thousand
feet down from the rim of the canyon to the river."

"Straight up and down?" asked Tom.

"No," replied Jim. "It's nearly thirteen miles across from rim to rim
and the precipitous walls of the gorge are only about fifteen hundred
feet."

"I have heard of it," said Juarez. "All the Indians know something about
it. Some say nobody can go through it alive. That the waters go down
into the heart of the earth. It is very wonderful, me see. To-morrow we
hunt for the treasure."

CHAPTER XXVII

THE CLIFF VILLAGE

Tom was the first awake the next morning. The reason is evident already
to the mind of the acute reader. Tom wanted to get on the trail of the
buried treasure. We were not entirely indifferent ourselves.

As soon as breakfast was finished we got on the boat and pulled out,
leaving a camping place which we always remembered with pleasure.

The charm of the place was in the Temple, where we had sung the old
songs. In the evening, too, we had given a special concert in honor of
Juarez.

We dragged some big pine logs into the interior, and soon had a great
fire started in the center of the Temple. It was a really beautiful
sight as the flames leaped upward toward the dome, and the auditorium,
with its red walls, showed clearly in the ruddy light, and there was the
drapery of the shadows gathered in the corners that moved as do the
curtains in a gentle breeze.

It was weird, too, especially when Juarez gave us some of the old Indian
chants and war songs. The sounds seemed to summon all the savagery of
the southwest to the Temple.

It was easy to imagine it as a great council chamber in which the chiefs
were deliberating on matters of grave importance. So it seemed when
Juarez chanted.

Finally we had some rollicking negro songs, and ended up with the Star
Spangled Banner, sung with tremendous enthusiasm by the entire
congregation, and it was stirring, too, as our voices swelled in that
great Temple.

No wonder that we looked back with regret as we shoved off into the
turbule