s of pebbles and beaches of sand and short steps down which the water
babbled. The canyon was narrow and tortuous; Hare could not see ahead
or below, for the projecting red cliffs, growing higher as he descended,
walled out the view. The blue stream of sky above grew bluer and the
light and shade less bright. For an hour he went down steadily without a
check, and the farther down the rougher grew the way. Bowlders wedged
in narrow places made foaming waterfalls. Silvermane clicked down
confidently.

The slender stream of water, swelled by seeping springs and little
rills, gained the dignity of a brook; it began to dash merrily and
hurriedly downward. The depth of the falls, the height of cliffs, and
the size of the bowlders increased in the descent. Wolf splashed on
unmindful; there was a new spirit in his movements; and when he looked
back for his laboring companions there was friendly protest in his eyes.
Silvermane's mien plainly showed that where a dog could go he could
follow. Silvermane's blood was heated; the desert was an old story
to him; it had only tired him and parched his throat; this canyon of
downward steps and falls, with ever-deepening drops, was new to him, and
roused his mettle; and from his long training in the wilds he had gained
a marvellous sure-footedness.

The canyon narrowed as it deepened; the jutting walls leaned together,
shutting out the light; the sky above was now a ribbon of blue, only to
be seen when Hare threw back his head and stared straight up.

"It'll be easier climbing up, Silvermane," he panted--"if we ever get
the chance."

The sand and gravel and shale had disappeared; all was bare clean-washed
rock. In many places the brook failed as a trail, for it leaped down in
white sheets over mossy cliffs. Hare faced these walls in despair. But
Wolf led on over the ledges and Silvermane followed, nothing daunted.
At last Hare shrank back from a hole which defied him utterly. Even Wolf
hesitated. The canyon was barely twenty feet wide; the floor ended in a
precipice; the stream leaped out and fell into a dark cleft from which
no sound arose. On the right there was a shelf of rock; it was scarce
half a foot broad at the narrowest and then apparently vanished
altogether. Hare stared helplessly up at the slanting shut-in walls.

While he hesitated Wolf pattered out upon the ledge and Silvermane
stamped restlessly. With a desperate fear of losing his beloved horse
Hare let go the bridle