could see the solitary blazing
trees on the mountain slopes like the fires of a great army, and in the
canyon below us on the other side the brush was still blazing.

CHAPTER X

THE SEARCH

"Shall we camp here?" I asked, "this seems to be as good a place as
any."

Jim shook his head.

"No, we will work our way north till we can get a view of our old camp.
Perhaps we will find some trace of Tom and the captain."

We rode on steadily, following along the top of the ridge. The whole
vast, shadowy country blackened and desolate, lighted by the occasional
fires, seemed to me quite unrecognizable.

"I don't believe we can tell the canyon when we arrive at it," I
suggested, "they all look alike to me."

"I guess I will know it when we come to it," Jim answered.

"You are a better mountaineer than I am if you can," I said.

"I am," replied Jim coolly.

I reckon there was no doubt of it, for Jim had developed a remarkable
sense for locality, and had a natural instinct for direction, while I
was easily lost, but I could tell the east when the sun rose and the
west where it set. Beyond that I was not much of an authority.

"Here we are," exclaimed Jim.

We had arrived at the head of a narrow canyon that looked to me much
like the one we had just gone by.

"How can you tell?" I asked.

"Never mind," replied Jim, "you will see that I am right."

Jim was not above adding to his reputation by a certain mystery, which
gave the impression that he controlled certain occult forces which he
did not choose to explain to the ignorant and the uninitiated.

"You guessed right," I said after we had ridden down a ways above the
wall of the canyon. "You certainly have pretty good luck."

"We are above the camp now," said Jim, "let's see if we can wake them
up?"

He put his hands to his lips and gave a yell loud enough to wake the
dead. No response.

"I'm going down to make sure," he said.

So he swung himself off Piute, and followed by Santa the two soon
disappeared, leaving me alone, but I was used to that. So I dismounted
to give Coyote a rest. I hope Jim will be able to find water down
there, I said to myself.

I did not have very long to wait, when I saw Jim, toiling up from below.

"What luck?" I asked.

He shook his head.

"They haven't been around since the fire and the pack horses are gone."

My heart sank and a sensation of absolute loneliness came over me. Here
we were, the two of us, with no o