When the tent had been put up, George lingered to tighten the guys, while Bob went back to the boat again. Presently, he called to his companion, and threw something out on the bank.
“Didn’t I tell you that we were the victims of treachery?” said he. “Just take a glance at the stump of that oar and tell me what you think about it?”
“Who did it?” said George, when he had examined what was left of the oar, and found the marks of a saw upon it.
“You tell,” replied Bob. “I didn’t suppose I had an enemy on the ranch; but that proves that there is somebody there who wanted me to go into that canyon, believing that if I did, I would never get out alive. He will find that he reckoned without his host, will he not? Put it away in some safe place, George. We must take it home with us, even if we have to leave everything else behind us in order to carry it there. Now perhaps we had better load our guns, for we don’t know who or what are neighbors are.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean that there must be wild animals of some sort in the valley,” replied Bob. “If they know how to get in, of course they know how to get out again, and all we’ve go to do is to find a trail, put the dogs on it, and let them follow it up. It will be sure to lead to some gulch or canyon that we can’t see from here, and, by using that as a highway, we shall be able to get out.”
“That’s the very idea,” said George, stooping down to caress the setters, which had taken possession of the blanket their thoughtful master had spread upon the ground for their accommodation. “Do you know I had wholly forgotten that we had brought any dogs with us?”
“So had I. I was so taken up with other matters that I didn’t even see them get out of the boat, nor did I notice how they behaved during that eruption. We must take the best of care of them, for they are our sole dependence now. You thought we couldn’t find use for all this grub, didn’t you?” added Bob, surveying the long row of well-filled baskets he had placed upon the bank. “We may go hungry yet before we see home again.”
“How far off do you suppose it is?”
“I will answer that question, if you will tell me how fast our boat traveled when she was shooting through the canyon.”