ld start back at once. They had had a good
night's rest and had found their dear lady. What more did they need?
Besides, there were not provisions for an indefinite stay for such a
large party, and there were none too many sources of supply in this
region.

The missionary thought that, now he was here, he ought to go on to
Walpi. It was not more than two hours' ride there, and Hazel could stay
with the camp while Margaret's ankle had a chance to rest and let the
swelling subside under treatment.

Margaret, however, rebelled. She did not wish to be an invalid, and was
very sure she could ride without injury to her ankle. She wanted to see
Walpi and the queer Hopi Indians, now she was so near. So a compromise
was agreed upon. They would all wait in camp a couple of days, and then
if Margaret felt well enough they would go on, visit the Hopis, and so
go home together.

Bud pleaded to be allowed to stay with them, and Jasper Kemp promised to
make it all right with his parents.

So for two whole, long, lovely days the little party of five camped on
the mesa and enjoyed sweet converse. It is safe to say that never in all
Bud's life will he forget or get away from the influences of that day in
such company.

Gardley and the missionary proved to be the best of physicians, and
Margaret's ankle improved hourly under their united treatment of
compresses, lotions, and rest. About noon on Saturday they broke camp,
mounted their horses, and rode away across the stretch of white sand,
through tall cornfields growing right up out of the sand, closer and
closer to the great mesa with the castle-like pueblos five hundred feet
above them on the top. It seemed to Margaret like suddenly being dropped
into Egypt or the Holy Land, or some of the Babylonian excavations, so
curious and primitive and altogether different from anything else she
had ever seen did it all appear. She listened, fascinated, while
Brownleigh told about this strange Hopi land, the strangest spot in
America. Spanish explorers found them away back years before the
Pilgrims landed, and called the country Tuscayan. They built their homes
up high for protection from their enemies. They lived on the corn,
pumpkins, peaches, and melons which they raised in the valley, planting
the seeds with their hands. It is supposed they got their seeds first
from the Spaniards years ago. They make pottery, cloth, and baskets, and
are a busy people.

There are seven villages built o