“I do not think you would. Before you could sell it you would fall somewhere and spill it all,” retorted Emma.
At the guide’s suggestion they followed the road along the edge of the canyon, finding many things to interest them, things that, while small in comparison with the canyon itself, were well worth their attention. Through the rustling pines they caught a glimpse of Castle Rock, rising nearly two thousand feet above the valley, and right among the pines that had grown up about it they came upon an enormous block of granite, weighing, Tom Gray estimated, fully a thousand tons.
“Is there any other granite like that in these parts?” he asked.
“No,” answered Badger. “It’s the only granite I know of within a hundred miles of here. They call this block the ‘Devil’s Watch Charm.’”
“I suppose the great question is, ‘Where did it come from?’” suggested Miss Briggs.
“Yes. It undoubtedly was transported here in the Glacial Age, and possibly was rolled and hurled hundreds of miles, grinding its way amid the ice of that remote age,” said Tom.
“Br-r-r-r!” shivered Stacy. “Had I lived then I should have had cold feet all the time.”
“Again, why the past tense?” questioned Emma.
Stacy grumbled, but had nothing to say, and by now the party was turning back towards camp. On their way they met a coach with a party of tourists from the Canyon Hotel in charge of the proprietor. The latter, so the Overlanders were informed, was about to make his daily trip to the bottom of the canyon, as he expressed it, “for a little exercise and to take the stiffness out of my joints.”
The canyon bottom lay a thousand feet below them at that point, Grand View, and the sides of the canyon were steep and rugged.