s coming up from the pool, with his baby in one arm and his
wife clinging fondly to the other. He met the coldly exultant glance
of Gowan, and smiled.

"The only question regarding the power is one of cost, Mr. Gowan," he
said. "There is no coal near enough to be hauled. But gasolene is not
bulky. If there was water power to generate electricity, a tunnel
could be bored at half the cost I have figured. The point is that
there is no water power available, nor will there be until the tunnel
is finished."

"What! You talk about finishing the tunnel? Didn't you say it is still
uncertain about the water?" demanded Knowles.

"I was merely explaining to Mr. Gowan," replied Blake. "The question
he raised is one of the factors in our problem as to whether an
irrigation project is practicable. We now know that we have the land
for it, the tunnel site, the reservoir site--" he pointed to the
valley above the dike--"and I have figured that the cost of
construction would not be excessive. All that remains is to determine
if we have the water. I have already explained that this will require
a descent into the canyon."

"You say that that will decide it, one way or the other?" queried
Knowles, his forehead creased with deep lines of foreboding.

"Yes," replied Blake. "I regret that you feel as you do about it.
Consider what it would mean to hundreds, yes, thousands of people, if
this mesa were watered. I assure you that you, too, would benefit by
the project."

"I don't care for any such benefit, Mr. Blake. I've been a cowman for
twenty-five years. I want to keep my range until the time comes for me
to take the long trail."

"It would be hard to change," agreed the engineer. "However, the point
now is to find what Deep Canyon has to tell us."

"You still think you can go down it?"

"Yes, if I have ropes, a two-pound hammer, and some iron pins;
railroad spikes and picket-pins would do."

"Going to rope the rocks and pull them up for steps?" asked Gowan.

"I shall need two or three hundred feet of half-inch manila," said
Blake, ignoring the sarcasm.

"They may have it at Stockchute," said Knowles. "Kid, you can drive
over with the wagon and fetch Mr. Blake all the rope and other things
he wants. I can't stand this waiting much longer."

"There will be no time lost," said Blake. "It will take Ashton and me
all of tomorrow to carry a line of levels up the mountain."

"Why need you do that, Tom?" asked his wife.

"Yes,