ave which had been prepared
for it, followed by his three comrades with loaded muskets, and then
by all the other members of the party, except Mrs. Stanley, who looked
down from her roof upon the spectacle. Thurstane acted as chaplain, and
read the funeral service from Clara's prayer-book, amidst the weeping
of women and the silence of men. The dead young hero was lowered into
his last resting-place. Sergeant Meyer gave the order: "Shoulder
arms--ready--present--aim--fire!" The ceremony was ended; the muleteers
filled the grave; a stone was placed to mark it; so slept a good soldier.

Now came another night of anxiety, but also of quiet. In the morning, when
eager eyes looked through the yellow haze of dawn over the plain, not an
Apache was to be seen.

"They are gone," said Coronado to Thurstane, after the two had made the
tour of the ruins and scrutinized every feature of the landscape. "What
next?"

Thurstane swept his field-glass around once more, searching for some
outlet besides the horrible canon, and searching in vain.

"We must wait a day or so for our wounded," he said. "Then we must start
back on our old trail. I don't see anything else before us."

"It is a gloomy prospect," muttered Coronado, thinking of the hundred
miles of rocky desert, and of the possibility that Apaches might be
ambushed at the end of it.

He had been so anxious about himself for a few days that he had cared for
little else. He had been humble, submissive to Thurstane, and almost
entirely indifferent about Clara.

"We ought at least to try something in the way of explorations," continued
the lieutenant. "To begin with, I shall sound the river. I shall be
thought a devil of a failure if I don't carry back some information about
the topography of this region."

"Can you paddle your boat against the current?" asked Coronado.

"I doubt it. But we can make a towing cord of lariats and let it out from
the shore; perhaps swing it clear across the river in that way--with some
paddling, you know."

"It is an excellent plan," said Coronado.

The day passed without movement, excepting that Texas Smith and two
Mexicans explored the canon for several miles, returning with a couple of
lame ponies and a report that the Apaches had undoubtedly gone southward.
At night, however, the animals were housed and sentries posted as usual,
for Thurstane feared lest the enemy might yet return and attempt a
surprise.

The next morning, all being qu