too
about Fred's wandering around the canyons trying to see if he too couldn't
get lost. According to Thomas Jefferson he came mighty near succeeding
too."

Fred did not reply although it was plain that his feeling of relief at the
return of Grant was as great as that of his companion.

The conversation speedily turned upon the exciting experiences through
which all three boys had passed that day. Zeke declared gruffly that there
wasn't one of them fit to be in the canyon. "I'm tellin' you," he said,
"this is no place for a kid or a tenderfoot. It's a man's job to work
one's way up this gulch, let me tell you, and we ought not to have any
infants along with us."

"We're not 'infants,'" spoke up Fred. "Except in the eyes of the law," he
added. "We're able to do the job and there isn't any one of us that's
trying to back out."

"No, I wish some of you would," growled Zeke. "What with your getting lost
and trying to slide over the edge of the Gulch there isn't much time to
look for any lost claim or find any prospect."

"How long do you think it will be before Jack and Pete come here?"
inquired Fred.

"Nobody knows," replied Zeke. "Maybe an hour, maybe a day, and maybe a
week and maybe never."

CHAPTER XVI

A STARTLING ARRIVAL

Whether the gruff words of the somewhat crusty guide cast a spell over the
boys or they themselves shared in the dark vision presented by him no one
knew. At all events silence soon rested over the little camp and in a
brief time all were asleep.

Now that Fred and George had been cared for and the immediate peril into
which they had fallen was gone a feeling of relief had come to the three
Go Ahead Boys. They were still anxious concerning their missing companion,
but their confidence in Pete and their knowledge that John was not likely
to incur any unnecessary risks, to say nothing of the search which Kitoni
was making, all combined to strengthen their hope that the missing Go
Ahead Boys would soon be with them.

When the light of the following morning appeared the camp was astir and
Zeke, who was awake before his young charges had opened their eyes, was
already preparing a simple breakfast. It had been difficult for him to
obtain wood with which to kindle the fire but after a diligent search in
the barren region where they had halted he at last obtained a sufficient
number of dead and dried branches that had fallen from the few trees on
the side of the canyon.

When breakf