The climb up Porcupine Hill was not made as soon as most of the boys had hoped. Several weeks elapsed and the program that had been mapped out by the doctor was too full for any additions. Meanwhile all the absent boys of the school returned, and the trip to Grand Cañon was taken.
Only one-fourth of the boys took this trip this year, it always being reserved for the fourth-year, or senior, pupils. Hal Kenyon was one of the eleven boys who visited these wonders of the Colorado River on this occasion. And on his return he was so full of the delights of the scenery that Mummy Cañon and Flathead were for a time of minor interest.
But in time their old fascination returned. The cave behind the waterfall at no time ceased to be an object of much interest to him, and he was continually wishing that something would put it into Dr. Byrd’s head to make a thorough inspection of the cavern. And if this were done, Hal naturally hoped that he would be one of the inspectors.
Meanwhile the broken bones of Aviator Miles mended rapidly. As soon as it was deemed safe, he was permitted to leave his bed and hobble around on crutches, his leg still in a cast, however. From the time of his first exit from the Hospital, he was an object of much interest to the boys. They gathered around him at every opportunity and begged for stories of his experiences, and he usually had something of absorbing interest to tell.
He told them that he had been among the Rockies from Yellowstone National Park to the Grand Cañon for two months before his accident, and he exhibited before their eager eyes his collection of stones and quartz that Hal had discovered in the waterfall cave.
“But they’re not all here,” he remarked as he poured them out on a newspaper that he had spread on the lawn in front of Dr. Byrd’s home. He was seated on the grass while a score of boys stood around in eager attention.
“Where are the others?” inquired Fes.
“I don’t know,” replied the aviator slowly. “There were six pretty fair sized gold nuggets in the bag when I fell; or they were there a few hours before, and I don’t see how they could have disappeared.”
“I didn’t see any when I opened the bag in the cave.”
Hal volunteered this information, but the sentence was finished with a different tone of voice from the tone at the beginning. In the midst of his statement he suddenly realized the importance to him of the disappearance of the nuggets, and a lump arose in his throat, so that he could hardly finish what he started to say.