is it? Who is it?" demanded Fred.

The Indian made no reply, but as the distant call was heard again he
repeated his call, which this time was distinctly answered. As yet no one
was able to see the place from which the cry had come.

"Do you think anyone is in trouble?" inquired Grant anxiously of the
guide.

"No," replied Zeke.

"Do you think any one is in trouble?" inquired

"That's more than I can tell."

"Why don't you call Pete?"

"No use. Thomas Jefferson has answered the call and there isn't anything
more to be done except to wait until they get here, then we'll see whether
any one is missin' or not."

"Come on, fellows, let's go down and see!" shouted Fred to his companions,
who at once prepared to obey the suggestion.

"Here, stop that!" ordered Zeke sternly. "You're not goin' to do anything
of the kind. We've got one boy lost now and that's enough. My dad used to
tell me that one boy was a boy and two boys was half a boy. I don't know
just how much four would be," he added quizzically, as he glanced at his
young companions. "We've got troubles enough now. Just hold your horses
and wait, and we'll soon find out what we all of us want to know."

Striving to possess their souls in patience the Go Ahead Boys waited while
the minutes slowly dragged on. Again and again Fred impatiently shouted,
but for some reason there was no further answering cry. It might be that
the little party had passed under some projecting shelf of rock which cut
off all sounds from above.

Just as the sun set, however, to the great delight of the boys they
discovered three men slowly climbing the side of the gulch almost directly
below them.

Instantly the Go Ahead Boys cheered and shouted, although no replies were
made to their hails.

From what they were able to see they concluded that not one of the three
missing members of the party was disabled. They were all toiling slowly up
the sloping side, and it was soon manifest that every one was able to make
the effort for himself.

Twenty minutes later John, Pete and Kitoni gained the place where their
friends were awaiting their coming.

"You never had any one so glad to see you in all your life," shouted Fred
as he ran to John and tried to throw his arm around his neck. As Fred was
the "pigmy" of the party his efforts were ridiculous, but they
nevertheless served to remove a part of the tension under which all were
laboring.

"Are you all right, Jack?" demanded Grant.