The Enchanted Canyon

  CHAPTER IX

  THE CLIFF DWELLING

  "Love! that which turns the meanest man to a god in some one's eyes!Yet I must not know it! Suppose I cast my responsibility to the windsand . . . and yet that sense of responsibility is all thatdifferentiates me from Minetta Lane."--_Enoch's Diary_.

  Diana began work on her films on a little folding table beside thespring. Enoch, throwing down his log close to the cave opening, pausedto watch her. Jonas and Na-che, putting the cave in order, talkedquietly to each other. Suddenly from the river, to the right, thererose a man's half choking, agonized shout and around the curve shot askiff, bottom up, a man clinging to the gunwale. The water was toowild and swift for swimming.

  "The rope, Judge, the rope!" cried Mack.

  Enoch picked up a coil of rope, used for staking the horses, and ran toMack who snatched it, twirled it round his head and as the boat rushedby him, the noosed end shot across the gunwale. The man caught it overhis wrist and it was the work of but a few moments to pull him ashore.

  He was a young man, with a two days' beard on his face, clad in theuniversal overalls and blue flannel shirt. He lay on the sand, tooexhausted to move for perhaps five minutes, while Jonas pulled off hissodden shoes, and Na-che ran to kindle a fire and heat water. After amoment, however the stranger began to talk.

  "Almost got me that time! Forgot to put my life preserver on. Don'tbother about me. I'm drowned every day. Another boat with the rest ofus should be along shortly. Hope they salvaged some of the stuff."

  "What in time are you trying to do on the river, anyhow?" demandedCurly. "There's simpler ways of committing suicide."

  The young man laughed. "Oh, we're some more fools trying to get fromGreen River to Needles!"

  "On a bet?" asked Mack.

  "Hardly! On a job! Geological Survey! Four of us! There they come!Whoo--ee!"

  He staggered to his feet, as another boat shot around the curve. Butthis one came through in proper style, right side up, two men manningthe oars and a third with a steering paddle. With an answering shout,they ran quickly up on the shore. They were a rough-bearded, overalledlot, young men, all of them.

  "Gee whiz, Harden! We thought you were finished!" exclaimed thetallest of the trio.

  "I would have been, but for these folks," replied Harden. "Here, let'smake some introductions!"

  They were stalwart fellows. Milton, the leader, was sandy-haired andfreckled, a University of California man. Agnew was stocky andswarthy, an old Princeton graduate and Forrester, a thin, blonde chaphad worked in New York City before he joined the Geological Survey.They were astonished by this meeting in the Canyon, but delightedbeyond measure. They had been on the river for seven months and up tothis time had met no one except when they went out for supplies.

  "We camped up above those rapids, last night," said Milton. "Of coursewe didn't know of this spot. We really had nothing but a ledge, upthere. This morning Harden undertook to patch his boat, with thisresult." He nodded toward the shivering cast-a-way, who had crowdedhimself to Na-che's fire. "Have you folks any objection to ourstopping here to make repairs?"

  "Lord, no! Glad to have you!" said Mack.

  Enoch laughed. "Mack, it's no use! You and Curly are doomed to takeon guests as surely as a dog takes on fleas. They started out alone,Milton, for a little vacation prospecting trip. I caught them a fewdays out and made them take me on. Then Miss Allen came along lastnight, and now your outfit! I'm sorry for you, Mack."

  "I'll try to live through it," grinned Mack.

  "Did you fellows find any pay gravel, coming down?" asked Curly.

  "We didn't look for any," answered Agnew, "But a few years ago, Ipicked this out of the river bed."

  He showed Curly a nugget as large as a pea. "Where the devil did youfind that?" exclaimed Curly, eagerly.

  "I can show you on our map," replied Agnew.

  "I'll go fifty-fifty with you," proffered Curly. "Me to do all thework."

  "No, you won't," laughed Agnew. "Say, old man, I put in four years,trying to make money out of the Colorado and I swear, the only realcash I've ever made on it has been the magnificent wages the Secretaryof the Interior allows me. I'll keep the nugget. You can havewhatever else you find there. Believe me, you'll earn it, before youget it!"

  "You're foolish but I'm on! Mack, when shall we move?"

  "I want to know a lot more before I break up my happy home." Mack'svoice was dry. "In the meantime you fellows make yourselvescomfortable. Come on, Curly. Let's get back to work!"

  "Mr. Curly," said Jonas, "will you let me see that nugget?"

  "Sure, Jonas, here it is!"

  Jonas turned it over on his brown palm. "You mean to say you pick upgold like that, down here?"

  "That's what I did," replied Agnew.

  "Kin any one do it?"

  "Yes, sir!"

  "How come it everybody ain't down here doing it right now?"

  "The going is pretty stiff," said Harden, with a grin, glancing at hissteaming legs.

  "Boss," Jonas turned the nugget over and over, "let's have a try atthese ructions, before we go back!"

  "Are you game to take to the boats, Jonas?" asked Enoch.

  "No, boss, we'll just go over the hills, like Miss Diana does. For theLord's sake, who'd want to go back to--"

  "Jonas," interrupted Diana. "If you and Na-che will put together alunch for us, the Judge and I will get started."

  "I didn't quite get your name, sir," said Milton to Enoch.

  "Just Smith," called Curly, from over his pan of gravel. "Mr. JustSmith! Judge, for short."

  "Oh!" Milton continued to stare at Enoch in a puzzled way. "I begyour pardon! Come on, Harden, you're pretty well steamed out. Let'sgo back and see what we can salvage, while Ag and Forr begin tooverhaul the stuff we've already pulled out."

  Not a half hour later, Enoch, Diana and Na-che were making their wayslowly up the plateau trail, not however, to climb up the old trail tothe main land. They turned midway toward their right. There was notrail, but Enoch knew the way by the distant peaks. They traveledafoot, single file, each with a canteen, a little packet of food andNa-che with the camera tripod, while Enoch insisted on toting thecamera and the coil of rope. The sun was hot on the plateau and theway very rough. They climbed constantly over ragged boulders, andchaotic rock heaps, or rounded deep fissures that cut the plateau likespider webs. Muscular and in good form as was the trio, frequent restswere necessary. They had one mishap. Na-che, lagging behind, slippedinto a fissure. Enoch and Diana blanched at her sudden scream and ranback as she disappeared. Mercifully a great rock had tumbled into thecrevice some time before and Na-che landed squarely on this, six feetbelow the surface. When Diana and Enoch peered over, she was sittingcalmly on the rock, still clinging to the tripod.

  "I lost my lunch!" she grumbled as she looked up at them.

  Diana laughed. "You may have mine! Better no lunch than no Na-che.Give us hold of the end of the tripod, honey, and we'll help you out."

  A few moments of strenuous scrambling and pulling and Na-che was on theplateau brushing the sand from her clothes.

  "Sit down and get your breath, Na-che," said Enoch.

  "I'm fine! I don't need to sit," answered Na-che. "Let's get along."She started on briskly.

  "I suppose things like that are of daily occurrence!" exclaimed Enoch."Miss Allen, don't you think you could be more careful!"

  Again Diana laughed. "It wasn't I who slipped into the crevice!"

  "No, but I'll wager you've had many an accident."

  "That's where part of the fun comes in. Why, only yesterday we had themost thrilling escape. We--"

  "Please! I don't want to hear it!" protested Enoch,

  "Pshaw! There's no more daily risk here, than there is in the streetsof a large city."

  Enoch grunted and followed as Diana hurried after Na-che. The coursenow led along the edge of the plateau which here hung dire
ctly abovethe river. The water twisted far below like a sinuous brown ribbon.The nooning sky was bronze blue and burning hot. The world seemed veryhuge, to Enoch; the three of them, toiling so carefully over the yellowplateau, very small and insignificant. He did not talk much during therest intervals. He would light his pipe and smoke as if in physicalcontentment, but his deep blue eyes were burning and somber as theyrested on the vast emptiness about them. Na-che always dozed duringthe stops. Diana, after she had observed the look in Enoch's eyes,occupied herself in writing up her note book.

  It was just noon when they came to an old trail which Enoch believeddropped to the cliff dwelling. Before descending it, they ate theirlunch, Enoch and Diana sharing with Na-che. This done, they began towork carefully down the faint old trail. For ten or fifteen minutes,they wormed zig-zag downward, the angle of descent so great thatfrequently they were obliged to sit down and slide, controlling theirspeed by clinging to the rocks on either side. They could not see thecliff dwelling; only the river winding so remotely below. But at theend of the fifteen minutes the trail stopped abruptly. Sounexpectedly, in fact, that Enoch clung to a rock while his legsdangled over the abyss. He shouted to the others to wait while hepeered dizzily below. A great section of the wall had broken away andthe trail could not be taken up again until a sheer gap of twenty feethad been bridged.

  Diana crept close behind Enoch and peered over his shoulders.

  "If we tie the rope to this pointed rock, I think we can lowerourselves, don't you?" he asked.

  "Easily!" agreed Diana. "I'll go first."

  "Well, hardly! I'll go first and Na-che can bring up the rear, asusual."

  They knotted the rope around the rock and Enoch and Diana quickly andeasily made the descent. Na-che lowered the camera and tripod to them,then examined, with a sudden exclamation, the rock to which the ropewas tied. "That rock will give way any minute," she cried. "Yourweight has cracked it."

  Even as she spoke, the rock suddenly tilted and slid, then bounded outto the depths below, carrying the rope with it. For a moment no onespoke, then Na-che, her round brown face wrinkled with amusement, said,

  "Almost no Na-che, no Diana, no Judge, eh?"

  "Jove, what an escape!" breathed Enoch.

  "Na-che," said Diana, "you'll just have to return to the camp foranother rope. You'd better ride back here. In the meantime, the Judgeand I'll explore the dwelling."

  Na-che nodded and without another word, disappeared. Diana turned toEnoch. "Lead ahead, Judge!"

  The trail now led around a curve in the wall. Enoch edged gingerlybeyond this and paused. The trail again was broken, but they were infull view of the cliff dwelling, which was snuggled in an inward curveof the Canyon, filling entirely a gigantic gap in the gray wall.

  Diana exclaimed over its mute beauty. "I must see it!" she said. "Butwe can't bridge this gap without more ropes and more people to help."

  "It looks to me," Enoch spoke with a sudden smile, "as though the Lordintended me to have a few moments alone with you!"

  Diana smiled in return. "It does, indeed," she agreed.

  "Let's try to settle ourselves comfortably here in view of thedwelling. I like to look at it. We can hear Na-che when she calls."

  The trail was several feet wide at this point. Diana sat down on arock, her back to the wall, clasping one knee with her brown fingers.For a little while Enoch stood looking from the dwelling to Diana, thenfar out to the glowing peaks across the Canyon to the north. Finally,he turned to silent contemplation of the lovely, slender figure againstthe wall. Diana's dignity, her utter sweetness, the something quietingand steadying in her personality never had seemed more pronounced toEnoch than in this country of magnificent heights and depths.

  "Well," said Diana, finally, "after you've finished your inspection,perhaps you'll sit down and talk."

  Enoch smiled and established himself beside her. He refilled his pipe,lighted it and laid it down. "Miss Allen," he said abruptly, "you sawthe article in the Brown papers?"

  "Yes," replied Diana.

  "What did you think of it?"

  "I thought what others think, that Brown is an unspeakable cur."

  "I can't tell you how keenly I feel for you in the matter, Miss Allen.I would have given anything to have saved you from it."

  "Would you? I'm not so sure that I would! You see, I'm just enough ofa hero worshiper to be proud to have my name coupled in friendship withthat of a great man."

  "A great man!" repeated Enoch quietly, yet with a bitterness in hisvoice that wrung Diana's heart.

  "Yes, Mr. Huntingdon," Diana's voice broke a little and she turned herhead away.

  The utter silence of the Canyon enveloped them.

  At last Enoch said, "You have a big soul, Miss Allen, but you shall notsacrifice one smallest fragment of--of your perfection for me. If itis necessary for me to kill Brown, I shall do so."

  Diana gasped, "Enoch!"

  Enoch, at the sound of his name on her lips, touched her hand quicklyand softly with his own, and as quickly drew it away, jumped to hisfeet and began to pace the trail.

  "Yes, kill him, the cur! Diana, he did not even leave me a mother inthe public mind! He maligned you. The burdens that I have carried forall the years, the horrors that I've wrestled with, the secret shamesthat I've hidden, he's exposed them all in the open marketplace. Andhe dragged you into my mire! Diana, each man must be broken in adifferent way. Some are broken by money, some by physical fear, someby spiritual fear, some--"

  Diana interrupted. "Enoch, are you a friend of mine?"

  Enoch turned his tortured eyes to hers. "I shall never tell you howmuch a friend I am to you, Diana. But my friendship is a fact you maydraw on all the days of your life, as heavily as you will."

  "And I am your friend. Though I know you so little, no friend is asdear to me as you are." She rose and coming to his side, she took hishand in both of hers.

  "Dear Enoch, what a man like Brown can say of you in an article or two,has no permanent weight with the public. Scurrilous stories of thattype kill themselves by their very scurrility. No matter how eagerlythe public may lap up the stuff, it cannot really heed it for, Enoch,America knows you and your service. America loves you. Brown cannotdislodge you by slandering your mother. The real importance and dangerof that story lies in its reaction on you. I--I could not helprecalling the story of that tormented, red-haired boy who went downBright Angel trail with my father and I had to come to help him, if Icould. O Enoch, if the Canyon could only, once more, wipe LuigiGuiseppi out of your life!"

  Enoch watched Diana's wide gray eyes with a look of painful eagerness.

  "Nothing matters, nothing can matter, Enoch, except that you find thestrength in the Canyon to go back to your work and that you leave Brownalone. That is what I want to demand of your friendship, that youpromise me to do those two things."

  "I shall go back, of course," replied Enoch, gravely. "I had nothought of doing otherwise. But about Brown, I cannot promise."

  "Then will you agree not to go back until you have talked to me again?"

  "Again? But I expect to talk to you many times, Diana! You are notgoing away, are you?"

  Diana nodded. "I'm using another person's money and I must get on,to-morrow, with the work I agreed to do. Promise me, Enoch."

  "But, Diana--O Diana! Diana! Let me go with you!"

  Diana turned to face the dwelling. "The Canyon can do more for youthan I can, Enoch. But we'll meet, say at El Tovar before you go backto Washington. Promise me, Enoch."

  "Of course, I promise. But, Diana, how can I let you go!"

  Enoch put his arm across Diana's shoulders and stood beside her,staring at the silent, deserted dwelling. It seemed to Enoch, standingso, that this was the sweetest and saddest moment of his life; saddestbecause he felt that in nothing more than friendship must he ever touchher hand with his: sweetest because for the first time in his historyhe was beginning to understa
nd the depth and beauty that can exist in afriendship between a man and a woman.

  "Diana," he said at last, "you may take yourself away from me, butnevertheless, I shall carry with me the thought of your loveliness,like a rod and a staff to sustain me."

  When Diana turned to look at him there were tears in her eyes.

  "I've always been glad that I was not ugly," she said, "butnow,"--smiling through wet lashes--"you make me proud of it, though Ican't see how the thought of it can--"

  She paused and Enoch went on eagerly: "It's a seamy, rough world,Diana, all higgledy-piggledy. The beautiful souls are misplaced inugly carcasses and the ugly souls in beautiful. Those who might befriends and lovers too often meet only to grieve that it is too latefor their joy. In such a world, when one beholds a body that naturehas chiseled and molded and polished to loveliness like yours anddiscovers that that loveliness is a true index of the intelligence andfineness of the character dwelling in the body--well, Diana, it givesone a new thought about God. It does, indeed!"

  "Enoch, I don't deserve it! I truly don't!" looking at him with thatcurious mingling of tenderness and courtesy and understanding in herwide eyes that made Diana unique.

  Enoch only smiled and again silence fell between them. Finally, Enochsaid,

  "I would like to go down the river with Milton and his crowd."

  Diana's voice was startled. "O no, Enoch! It's a frightfullydangerous trip! You risk your life every moment."

  "I want to risk my life," returned Enoch. "I want a real man'sadventure. I've got a battle inside of me to fight that will rend meunless I have one of equal proportions to fight, externally."

  A loud halloo sounded from above. "There's Na-che!" exclaimed Diana."We'll talk this over later, Enoch."

  But Enoch shook his head. "No, Diana, please! I've dreamed all mylife of this canyon trip. You mustn't dissuade me. Milton will bestarting to-morrow and I'm going to crowd in, somehow."

  Na-che called again. Diana turned silently and in silence theyreturned to the end of the broken trail. Here they explained to Na-chethe conditions of the trail beyond and that they had determined to giveup the expedition for that day.

  "I doubt if I try to investigate it at all, on this trip," said Diana,when they had made the difficult ascent to the plateau. "I reallyought to get into the Hopi country. My conscience is troubling me."

  Na-che looked disappointed. "That is a good camp, by the river," shesaid. "But maybe," eagerly, "the Judge and Jonas will come with us."

  "You like Jonas, don't you, Na-che?" asked Enoch.

  The Indian woman laughed and tossed her head, but did not answer.

  It was only four o'clock when they reached camp, but already dusk wassettling in the Canyon. A good fire was going in front of the cave andJonas was guarding his stew which simmered over a smaller blaze nearDiana's tent. Na-che lifted the lid of the kettle, sniffed and turnedaway with a shrug of her shoulders.

  "What's troubling you, woman?" demanded Jonas.

  "I thought you was making stew," replied Na-che.

  "Oh, you did! Well, what do you think now?"

  "Oh, I guess you're just boiling the mud out of the river water. Yougive me the kettle and I'll show you how to make rabbit stew."

  "I'll give you a piece of my mind, Miss Na-che, that's what I'll giveyou. How come you to think you can sass a Washington man, huh, agovernment man, huh? How come you suppose I don't know women, huh?Why child, I was taking girls to fancy dress balls when you Indians wasstill wearing nothing but strings. I was--"

  "O Jonas!" called Enoch, who had been standing by the cave fire, anamused auditor of Jonas' tirade; "treat Na-che gently. She's leavingto-morrow."

  "Leaving? Don't we go, too, boss?" asked Jonas.

  "No, I'm going to see if I can go down river with the boats."

  Curly, who was cleaning up in the cave, came out, comb in hand.

  "You haven't gone crazy, have you, Judge?"

  "No more than usual, Curly. How about it, Milton?" as that sturdypersonage came up from the river and dropped wearily down by the fire."Don't you need another man?"

  "Yes, Judge, we're two short. One of our fellows broke an arm a weekago and we had to send him out, with another chap to help him."

  "Will you let me work my passage as far as Bright Angel?" asked Enoch.

  Milton scowled thoughtfully. "It's a god-awful job. You realize that,do you?"

  Enoch nodded. Milton turned to Harden and the other two men. "What doyou fellows think?"

  "We're awful short-handed," replied Harden, cautiously. "Can you swim,Judge?"

  "I'm a strong swimmer."

  "But gee willikums, Judge, what're we going to do without you?"demanded Mack. "Ain't that just the usual luck? You get a cooktrained and off he goes!"

  "And how about that deal of ours, Smith?" asked Curly, in a low voice.

  "I haven't forgotten it for a moment, Curly," Enoch replied. "I'lltalk to you about it, to-night. How about it, Milton?"

  "Can you stand rotten hard luck without belly-aching?" asked Agnew.

  "Yes, he can!" exclaimed Mack, "but he's a darn fool to think of going.It's as risky as the devil and nobody that's got a family dependent on'em ought to consider it for a moment."

  "I have no one," said Enoch quietly. "And I'm strong and hard asnails."

  "What fool ever sent you folks out?" asked Curly.

  "It's not a fool trip, really," expostulated Milton. "It's verynecessary for a good many reasons that the government have moreaccurate geographical and geological knowledge of this section."

  "What part of the government do you work for?" asked Mack.

  "The Geological Survey. It's a bureau in the Department of theInterior."

  "Oh, then Huntingdon's your Big Boss!" exclaimed Mack. "Do you knowhim?"

  "Never met him," replied Milton. "He doesn't know the small fry in hisdepartment."

  "He sits in Washington and gets the glory while you guys do the work,eh!" said Curly.

  "I don't think you should put it that way, Curly," protested Mack."Enoch Huntingdon's a big man and he's done more real solid work forhis country than any man in Washington to-day and I'll bet you on it."

  "Right you are!" exclaimed Forrester. "My oldest brother was incollege with Huntingdon. Says he was a good fellow, a brilliantstudent and even then he could make a speech that would break yourheart. His one vice was gambling. He--"

  "My father knew Huntingdon!" Diana spoke quickly. "He knew him when hewas a long-legged, red-headed boy of fourteen. My father was his guidedown Bright Angel trail. Dad always said that he never met asinteresting a human being as that boy."

  "Queer thing about personal charm," contributed Agnew. "I heardHuntingdon make one of his great speeches when he was PoliceCommissioner. I was just a little kid and he was a big, homely,red-headed chap, but I remember how my kid heart warmed to him and howI wished I could get up on the stage and get to know him."

  "So he was a gambler, was he?" Curly spoke in a musing voice. "Well,if he was once, he is now. It's a worse vice than drink."

  "How come you say that, Mr. Curly?" demanded Jonas.

  "In the meantime," interrupted Enoch, gruffly, "how about my trip downthe Canyon?"

  "Well," replied Milton, "if you go at it with your eyes open, I don'tsee why you can't try it as far as Grant's Crossing. That'sseventy-five miles west of here. Barring accidents, we should reachthere in a week, cleaning up the survey as we go along. If you live toreach there, you can either go out or come along, as you wish. Butunderstand that from the time we leave here till we reach Grant'sCrossing, there's no way out of the Canyon, at least as far as the mapsindicate."

  "Say, the placer where I found my nugget is just above Grant's!"exclaimed Harden. "Why don't you placer fans start on west and we'llall try to meet there in a week's time. I couldn't tell Field where itwas in a hundred years."

  "Suits me!" exclaimed Curly.

  "Me too!"
echoed Mack.

  "Then," said Enoch, "will you take Jonas along as cook, Mack?"

  "You bet!" cried Mack.

  "Does that suit you, Jonas?" asked Enoch.

  "No, boss, it don't suit me. I've gotta go with you. I ain't nevergoing to live through it, but I'll die praying."

  A shout went up of laughter and expostulation, but Jonas, though grimwith terror, was entirely unmoved. Nothing, not even mortal horror ofthe Colorado could break his determination never to be separated fromEnoch again. His agitation was so deep and so obvious that Enoch andMilton finally gave in to him.

  "All right!" said Milton. "A daylight start will about suit us all, Iguess. I don't think I can give you much previous instruction, Judge,that will help you. We'll put Jonas in Harden's boat and you in mine.You must wear your life preserver all the time that we are on thewater. When we are in the boat, do as I tell you, instantly, andyou'll soon pick up what small technique we have. It's mostly horsesense and brute strength that we use. No two rapids are alike and theportages are nearly all difficult beyond words."

  "My Gawd!" muttered Jonas.

  "You go over to the Hopi country with us," said Na-che, softly.

  "I dassen't do it!" groaned Jonas. "You'll have to serve that stew,Na-che. My nerves is just too upset. I gotta go off and sit downsomewhere."

  "Don't you worry," whispered Na-che, "I'll give you a Navajo charm.You can't drown if you wear it."

  Jonas' black face grew less tense. "Honest, Na-che?"

  Na-che nodded emphatically.

  "Well," said Jonas, "I had a warming of my heart to you the minute Ilaid eyes on you, up there at the Grand Canyon. Any woman as handsomeas you is, Na-che, is bound to be a comfort to a man in his hours oftrouble."

  Again Na-che nodded and began to dish the stew, which came quite up toJonas' estimate of it. After supper, the big fire was replenished andMack produced a deck of cards.

  "Who said draw-poker?" he inquired.

  "Most any of our crowd will shout," said Agnew.

  "Judge?" Mack looked at Enoch, who was sitting before the fire, armsclasped about his knees.

  Enoch pulled his pipe out of his mouth to answer. "No!" with a look ofrepugnance that caused Milton to exclaim, "Got conscientious scruplesagainst cards, Judge?"

  "Yes, but don't stop your game for me," replied Enoch, harshly. Thenhis voice softened. "Miss Allen, the moon is shining, up on theplateau. While these chaps play, will you take a walk with me?"

  "I'd like to very much!" Diana spoke quickly.

  "Well, don't be gone over an hour, children," said Curly. "Cards don'tdraw me like a good gab round the fire. And Diana's our best gabber."

  "An hour's the bargain then," said Enoch. "Come along, Miss Allen!"

  It was, indeed, glorious moonlight on the plateau. The two did notspeak until they reached the upper level, then Enoch laughed.

  "Jove! This is the greatest luck a game of cards ever brought me!Think, Diana, three days ago I was fighting my despair at the thoughtthat I must never see you again and that you despised me. And here Iam, with moonlight and you and a whole hour. Are you a little bitglad, Diana?"

  "A little bit! I'd be gladder if I weren't so disturbed at the thoughtof the trip you are to begin to-morrow!"

  "Nonsense, Diana! I'm learning more about my own Department every day.Aren't they a fine lot of fellows? Milton scares me to death. I don'tdoubt for a moment that if he tells me to dash to destruction in awhirlpool, I shall do so. There's a chap that could exact obediencefrom a mule. I'll look up his record when I get back to Washington."

  "Shall you reveal your identity before you leave them?" asked Diana.

  "No, certainly not! Not for worlds would I have them know who I am.And now tell me, Diana, just what are your plans?"

  "Oh, nothing at all exciting! I am going to make some studies ofIndian children's games. They are picturesque and ethnologically, veryinteresting. I shall come home across the Painted Desert and take somepictures in color. My adventures will be very mild compared withyours."

  "And you and Na-che will be quite alone, out in this trackless country!I shall worry about you, Diana."

  Diana laughed. "Enoch, you have no idea of what you are undertaking!You'll have no time to give me a thought. For a week you're going tostruggle as you never did before to keep breath in your body."

  "Oh, it'll not be that bad!" exclaimed Enoch. "Are you cold, Diana? Ithought you shivered. What a strange, ghostlike country it is! Itwould be horrible up here alone, wouldn't it!"

  They paused to gaze out over the fantastic landscape.

  In the gray light the strangely weathered mesas were ruined castles,stupendous in bulk; the mighty buttes and crumbled peaks were colossalcities overthrown by the cataclysm of time. It seemed to Enoch, thatnowhere else in the world could one behold such epic loneliness. Theexcitement that had buoyed him up since Diana's arrival suddenlydeparted, and his life with all its ugly facts was vividly in hisconsciousness again.

  "Diana," he said, abruptly, "when you were talking to me thisafternoon, you spoke of the Brown matter in the plural. Was there morethan one article about me?"

  Diana turned her tender eyes to Enoch's. "Let's not spoil thisbeautiful evening," she pleaded.

  "I don't want to bother you, Diana. Just tell me the facts and we'lldrop it."

  "I'd rather not talk about it," replied Diana.

  "Please, Diana! Whatever fight I have down here, whatever conclusion Ireach, I want to work with my eyes open, so that my decisions shall befinal. I don't want to have to revamp and revise when I get out."

  "As far as I know," said Diana, in a low voice, "there was but oneother reference to the matter. The day after the first articleappeared, Brown published a photograph of you and me in front of aJohnstown lunch place. There was a long caption, which said that youhad always been proud that you were slum-reared and a woman hater.That you had persisted in keeping some of your early habits, perhapsout of bravado. That Miss Allen was an intimate friend, the only womanfriend you had made and kept. That was all."

  "All!" echoed Enoch. The pale, silver landscape danced in a crimsonmist before him. He stood, clenching and unclenching his fists,breathing rapidly.

  "Oh, Enoch! Enoch! Since you had to know, it was better for you toknow from me than any one else. And as far as I am concerned, as Itold you before, I'm only amused. It's only for the reaction on youthat I'm troubled."

  "You mustn't be troubled, Diana." said Enoch, huskily. "But I'd beless than a man, if I didn't pay that yellow cur up. You see that,don't you?"

  "A Dutch family I have heard of has this family motto: 'Eagles do notsee flies.'"

  Enoch gave a dry, mirthless laugh. For a long time they tramped insilence. Then Diana said, "We've been out half an hour, Enoch."

  Enoch turned at once, taking Diana's hand as he did so. He did notrelease it until they had reached the edge of the trail and the soundof men's voices floated up to them. Then taking off his hat, he liftedthe slender fingers to his lips. "This is our real good-by, Diana, forwe'll not be alone, again. If anything should happen to me, I want youto have my diary, if they save it. I'll have it with me, on the trip."

  Diana's lips quivered. "God keep you, Enoch, and help you." Then sheturned and led the way to the cave.