Alex pointed to an opening in the wall of the canyon, back of the rock.
“I’ve been looking into that nest,” he said, “and I’ve discovered that there’s dry wood and leaves in there. Some day when the Colorado was on the rampage, logs and limbs drifted in there and never got out again.”
“Why wouldn’t that be a good place to camp?” asked Don. “Aren’t you boys getting tired of sleeping in those narrow bunks every night?”
“You bet I am,” Alex answered, “and I’ll sleep in the cave if any one else will. It seems nice and dry in there, and Captain Joe can keep watch! Who’s in for it? Now, don’t all speak at once!”
“I am, for one!” Don explained. “I’ll just enjoy it.”
“The Rambler is good enough for me,” Case asserted, and Clay expressed the same opinion, so Alex and Don were the only ones to move their blankets and pillows into the cavern that night when they were ready to go to bed. Teddy went with them, but the dog crept back to the boat.
“Bears live in caves, anyway!” laughed Don. “I guess Teddy feels at home here, the way he is tumbling about. Cute cub, that!”
There was a fire, fast dying down, just outside the mouth of the cave where the two boys were, and they lay side by side in their blankets for a long time watching the flickering blaze and talking of the strange events which had brought them together. At length Don spoke of the papers.
“Do you really hope to find the third paper in the shack your uncle inhabited in the Grand Canyon?” asked Alex. “I ain’t so sure of it.”
“I am sure it is there,” Don answered, “but I can’t say whether we shall find it or not. I’ve been thinking that we might find the spot marked by an ‘X’ without it. I’m certain that the third paper tells only of surroundings—perhaps points the way to some bend or cliff. By looking over the locality very carefully, we may be able to find the sunburst and the big X. Don’t you think so?”