ess you'll be all right."

By dint of struggling the ponies covered the short remaining distance
and, a little later, the party found itself on the summit. They were
among a lot of stunted trees and straggling bushes, on top of the flat
expanse that stood so high above the surrounding country.

"Oh, what a view!" cried Alice, as she looked off to the west, toward
the foothills and mountains.

"Isn't it?" agreed Ruth. "I wouldn't have missed it for anything."

"But where are the Indians?" asked Russ, who was getting his moving
picture machine ready for work.

"Oh, they're probably somewhere in the middle of the place," said
Baldy. "It's about three miles across it, you know."

They gave the horses a breathing spell, and then started slowly across
the table land. There was no smoke in sight now, and as far as could be
told from observation, they were alone on the plateau.

"It's likely the Indians are getting ready to make their 'medicine,'"
said Baldy. "Now leave everything to me. I can speak some of their
lingo, so I'll do the talking. I'll tell 'em you have powerful
'medicine' in that picture machine of yours," he went on to Russ. "That
may stop them from taking a notion to throw stones at it."

"Would they do that?" asked the young operator.

"Oh, they might--there's not much counting on what an Indian will do,
especially at these ceremonies. But I'll fix it all right. Just leave it
to me."

Though the top of the _mesa_ was flat, it was only comparatively so.
There were little hollows and ridges, and when the riders were down in
some of the depressions they could not see very far ahead.

They kept on, becoming more and more impressed with the wonderful view.
It was a new experience for the Easterners, and they appreciated it.

"I guess it's going to turn out a false alarm," Russ observed, as he
shifted the weight of his camera.

"No, they're here," returned Baldy, in a low voice.

"How can you tell?" Alice asked.

"I can hear the stamping of their ponies. They're tethered just beyond
there--past that clump of trees." He pointed as he spoke, and, at the
same moment, from that direction came the whinny of a pony. It was
answered by Baldy's horse.

"I thought so," said the cowboy, quietly. "They're here."

"Good enough!" declared Russ. "Mr. Pertell will be pleased to get this
film."

"You haven't got it--yet," remarked Paul, significantly.

A little later they passed along a trail that led to a gro