d admitted that neither of them had ever been on a horse
before, and not wanting to pay for the services of a guide they had
claimed to be expert riders. It hadn't taken the horses long to find out
how expert their riders were, and they had taken matters into their own
hands, or perhaps it might be better to say they had taken the bits in
their teeth and started for their stable.

The girl on the leading horse said she had been looking for quite a
while for a suitable place to fall, and when she saw the Mormon she knew
that was her chance!

It wasn't always the humans that got into trouble, either. I remember a
beautiful collie dog that was being given an airing along the Rim. He
suddenly lost his head, dashed over the low wall, and leaped to his
death a thousand feet below. It took an Indian half a day of arduous
climbing around fissures and bluffs to reach him and return him to his
distracted owners for burial. They could not bear to leave the Canyon
until they knew he was not lying injured and suffering on a ledge
somewhere.

[Illustration]

_Chapter XV: FOOLS, FLOOD, AND DYNAMITE_

The Chief and I stayed home for a few days, and life rambled on without
untoward incident. I began to breathe easier and stopped crossing my
fingers whenever the phone rang.

I even grew so placid that I settled myself to make a wedding dress for
the little Mexican girl who helped me around the house. Her father was
head of the Mexican colony whose village lies just out of Headquarters.
Every member of the clan was a friend of mine, for I had helped them
when they were sick and had saved all the colored pictures in magazines
for their children.

The wedding day dawned early, very early! At five o'clock I dragged
myself from my warm bed and went to the schoolhouse where the wedding
was staged. Father Vabre married the couple, and then we all went home
with the happy pair. An accordion and a harmonica furnished music enough
for several weddings; at least they made plenty of racket. We were
seated at the table with the bride and groom. They sat there all day
long, she still wearing her long wedding veil. The groom was attired in
the niftiest shepherd-plaid suit I ever beheld. The checks were so large
and so loud I was reminded constantly of a checker-board. A bright blue
celluloid collar topped the outfit. I do not think the bridal couple
spoke a word all day. They sat like statues and stonily received
congratulations and a