d
that I had no claim to him. But I had set my heart on making a supper
off venison to-night, and did not like the thought of giving it up. He
was ugly, and if you hadn't come up just when you did there would have
been trouble, with the chances against me."

"It was a mistake on your part."

"I fear it was. It may be, however, that Motoza feels better disposed
toward me since he has learned we are friends."

"That is my belief. But it is rather curious that we should run across
him again, so many miles from the spot where we last met; but, Fred, we
must keep our bearings."

They were in a wild section of the mountains, which they had not seen
before, but by carefully noting the position of the sun in the sky and
observing a towering, snow-covered peak that had been fixed upon as a
landmark, they agreed as to the right direction. They were confirmed in
their belief shortly after by coming to the edge of the canyon which
they had leaped on their outward trip; but the width was fully twenty
feet, with no diminishing, so far as they could see, to the right or
left.

"I hardly think it will do to make the venture here," remarked Jack,
with a shake of his head.

"No; for not only is it too wide, but the other side is several feet
higher than this."

They cautiously approached the edge and peered down into the frightful
depth. There was the same foamy stream, apparently a half-mile below,
clashing over the rocky bottom, and sending up the faint roar that
impressed them when the canyon was first seen. It was, in short, a
reproduction on a reduced scale of the magnificent Grand Canyon of the
Yellowstone, which is a source of admiring wonder to thousands of
tourists.

Something away down in the bottom caught the attention of Fred, and, at
his suggestion, they laid aside their rifles and venison and crept
forward on their faces until their heads projected over the edge of the
dizzying depth.

"Do you see him?" asked Fred.

"Yes; who would have thought of such a thing?"

At many points in the yeasty foam black masses of rocks rose so high
above the roaring stream that the water whirled and eddyed around them.
It was mostly these obstructions that kept the current in a state of
turmoil, and made it show distinctly in the twilight gloom of the
canyon. On one of the dripping rocks was a man, standing so like a
statue that in the indistinct light Fred Greenwood took him for some
fantastic formation of stone, worn by the