"Well, what the deuce are you looking for then?"
Abe, coming back to arrange the feed for his horse, looked closely at his companion but made no answer.
When the two men had thrown themselves on the grass to eat their lunch the surveyor, between bites of his sandwich, carefully scanned the mountain side and the mouth of the canyon below. Suddenly reaching out his hand he picked up a burnt cigarette butt and regarded it intently, while the engineer watched him with curious, amused interest.
"What the deuce is the matter, Abe? You act like one of Cooper's
Leather-Stocking heroes. What's the matter with that cigarette stub?"
The man of the desert, knowing nothing of Cooper, did not smile but answered shortly, eyeing the engineer as he spoke: "It ain't dry. There was a party at this watering place not more than three hours ago."
"Well, what of it? This is government property. Probably somebody ahead of us going into the new country to locate."
"There's been nobody ahead of us all day."
"How do you know that?"
Abe shrugged his shoulders. "How do I know that a party of five or six watered here since noon?"
"Perhaps it's someone going out."