e stopped somewhere in western
Kansas; but since rivers generally rose in mountains, it was only
reasonable to suppose that ours came from the Rockies. Its
destination, we knew, was the Missouri, and the Hassler boys always
maintained that we could embark at Sandtown in flood-time, follow
our noses, and eventually arrive at New Orleans. Now they took up
their old argument. "If us boys had grit enough to try it, it
wouldn't take no time to get to Kansas City and St. Joe."

We began to talk about the places we wanted to go to. The Hassler
boys wanted to see the stock-yards in Kansas City, and Percy wanted
to see a big store in Chicago. Arthur was interlocutor and did not
betray himself.

"Now it's your turn, Tip."

Tip rolled over on his elbow and poked the fire, and his eyes looked
shyly out of his queer, tight little face. "My place is awful far
away. My uncle Bill told me about it."

Tip's Uncle Bill was a wanderer, bitten with mining fever, who had
drifted into Sandtown with a broken arm, and when it was well had
drifted out again.

"Where is it?"

"Aw, it's down in New Mexico somewheres. There aren't no railroads
or anything. You have to go on mules, and you run out of water
before you get there and have to drink canned tomatoes."

"Well, go on, kid. What's it like when you do get there?"

Tip sat up and excitedly began his story.

"There's a big red rock there that goes right up out of the sand for
about nine hundred feet. The country's flat all around it, and this
here rock goes up all by itself, like a monument. They call it the
Enchanted Bluff down there, because no white man has ever been on
top of it. The sides are smooth rock, and straight up, like a wall.
The Indians say that hundreds of years ago, before the Spaniards
came, there was a village away up there in the air. The tribe that
lived there had some sort of steps, made out of wood and bark, hung
down over the face of the bluff, and the braves went down to hunt
and carried water up in big jars swung on their backs. They kept a
big supply of water and dried meat up there, and never went down
except to hunt. They were a peaceful tribe that made cloth and
pottery, and they went up there to get out of the wars. You see,
they could pick off any war party that tried to get up their little
steps. The Indians say they were a handsome people, and they had
some sort of a queer religion. Uncle Bill thinks they were
Cliff-Dwellers who had got into troub