.

The place was preferable to the previous one, for it was almost at the
mouth of the canyon. He was guiding himself as best he could, and on the
alert to grasp something to check his swift progress, when he debouched
into the broad, open pool or miniature lake at the break in the banks,
where the current became so sluggish that he swam with ease.

"This is growing monotonous," he muttered, as, after a few strokes, his
feet touched bottom and he walked out on dry land. "My rifle is gone,
but luckily I have kept my revolver for emergencies----"

He got no further with the remark, for his hand had gone back to his hip
with the result of discovering that the smaller weapon had been lost
during his last bath. But it was impossible wholly to lose his good
spirits.

"Whew! but that puts me in a fine condition to hunt grizzly bears and
meet bad Indians; I'm not so anxious to see Motoza as I was."

His teeth were chattering, and to start his blood in circulation he
began climbing the sloping bank, at the top of which, as will be
remembered, he had remained hidden with Fred Greenwood when looking down
upon the three Indians.

It was a laborious task, and he was panting when he reached the summit,
where he paused for a few minutes' rest. The prudent course was to
return as speedily as he could to the cavern by the plateau and start a
fire. His blanket had been left there, and would be of great use in his
present condition.

"I wonder, now, if somebody has been there and stolen them?" he
muttered, resuming his homeward tramp; "this thing ought not to stop,
and it seems to me Hank takes big chances in leaving the blankets and
ponies where some of these Indians can steal them."

Jack had still to leap the canyon in order to reach his destination, but
the task had become an easy one and caused him no anxiety. All was going
well, when his first shock of alarm came with the discovery that a wild
animal was following him. His first thought was that it was one of the
Indians, but a glimpse, on the edge of a slight clearing, showed that it
was a quadruped.

Jack paused and looked intently at the creature. He could see it only
dimly, but sufficiently so to identify it as a wolf of unusually large
size. He suspected it was of the black species, one of those savage
brutes to be dreaded tenfold more than the ordinary grey kind.

"I wonder whether he knows I haven't got a firearm about me? Ah, old
fellow, if I had my Winchester it