vajos tell me. And they're not much to talk. There's
a trail goes north, but I've never traveled it. It's a new trail every
time an Indian goes that way, for here the sand blows and covers old
tracks. But few Navajos ride in from the north. My trade is mostly with
Indians up and down the valley."

"How about water and grass?"

"We've had rain and snow. There's sure to be, water. Can't say about
grass, though the sheep and ponies from the north are always fat....
But, say, Shefford, if you'll excuse me for advising you--don't go
north."

"Why?" asked Shefford, and it was certain that he thrilled.

"It's unknown country, terribly broken, as you can see from here, and
there are bad Indians biding in the canyon. I've never met a man who had
been over the pass between here and Kayenta. The trip's been made, so
there must be a trail. But it's a dangerous trip for any man, let alone
a tenderfoot. You're not even packing a gun."

"What's this place Kayenta?" asked Shefford.

"It's a spring. Kayenta means Bottomless Spring. There's a little
trading-post, the last and the wildest in northern Arizona. Withers, the
trader who keeps it, hauls his supplies in from Colorado and New Mexico.
He's never come down this way. I never saw him. Know nothing of him
except hearsay. Reckon he's a nervy and strong man to hold that post. If
you want to go there, better go by way of Keams Canyon, and then around
the foot of Black Mesa. It'll be a long ride--maybe two hundred miles."

"How far straight north over the pass?"

"Can't say. Upward of seventy-five miles over rough trails, if there are
trails at all.... I've heard rumors of a fine tribe of Navajos living in
there, rich in sheep and horses. It may be true and it may not. But I do
know there are bad Indians, half-breeds and outcasts, hiding in there.
Some of them have visited me here. Bad customers! More than that,
you'll be going close to the Utah line, and the Mormons over there are
unfriendly these days."

"Why?" queried Shefford, again with that curious thrill.

"They are being persecuted by the government."

Shefford asked no more questions and his host vouchsafed no more
information on that score. The conversation lagged. Then Shefford
inquired about the Indian girl and learned that she lived up the valley
somewhere. Presbrey had never seen her before Willetts came with her
to Red Lake. And this query brought out the fact that Presbrey was
comparatively new to Red Lake an