do just that," he laughed nervously.

He jumped out of the car and quickly recovered his property. "Don't
know what I would have done if I'd lost it--all my sustenance and
books."

"Listen to the old chap," whispered Joy in Shirley's ear. "He's a
regular highbrow. Hear him talk! 'Sustenance', what does that mean?"

"Why, his food, of course," replied Shirley with a laugh.

"Then why didn't he say so? Isn't the word 'food' polite enough for
him?" giggled Joy.

"I wonder who he is?" Kit was puzzled by the man. He did not belong
to the desert, of that she was sure.

As if in answer to her thought, the stranger announced: "I am Anton
Gillette of Dorsey College. I'm on an exploring expedition."

"A professor!" gasped Joy in a low voice. "He'll spoil all our fun.
We'll have to pretend we're clever or something of the sort." This was
whispered in Bet's ear and brought forth a laugh.

"Be yourself, Joy! Don't try to be clever. It might strain you." Bet
leaned forward eagerly and addressed the old man. "An exploring
expedition! How interesting that sounds. What are you going to
explore? And where?"

"Are you going to find a buried city?" asked Enid excitedly.

"Hardly a buried city in this country," he returned.

"But why? When there were seven cities of Troy and maybe more, why
can't it be possible that there is one buried city here?"

"And maybe we could find a King Tut grave," suggested Shirley.

"That's an idea," said Bet, and the girls joined in the laugh, but the
professor was serious.

"I don't mind telling you that it is something of that sort that I am
after. I want to find the ruins of an old Indian village and find the
grave of a certain old chief. How did you guess it?"

"We didn't," laughed Kit. "We were just hoping it might be so."

"This old chief was supposed to have been buried with many historical
objects of the tribe, and it is his grave that I must find. It is all
very interesting--very," nodded the professor.

"There are Indian mounds all over Arizona," said Kit. "I don't see how
you will ever find the right one."

"I have a clue. It may be only an old legend without any foundation of
truth in it, but I don't think so. It was at the scene of an Indian
massacre. A common enough story it is. The white men encroaching on
the Indian lands," began Professor Gillette but Kit interrupted.

"There are thousands of legends like that. They are like the cactus,
they g