"If they didn't look so hideous, I wish I'd brought along those old smoked glasses I wore on the beach at Atlantic City," she thought more than once.
Sundown found the party skirting along the foot of rough, broken hills clothed with a scanty vegetation. Juan nodded approvingly and at once suggested making the camp there.
"We'll see if there is any water first," said Mr. Bell.
"It looks as if you need not take the trouble," declared Roy, "it's as dry as a week-old crust."
"Not quite so fast, young man," laughed Mr. Bell, "appearances are often deceitful, especially on the desert."
He dismounted, and reaching into one of the packs drew forth a slender forked stick. Then, while they all gazed in a puzzled silence at his actions, he passed it hither and thither over the dry floor of the desert.
"Oh, I know what it is now!" cried Peggy suddenly. "It's a divining rod!"
"A divining rod?" echoed Roy. "What's that?"
"Oh, look!" cried Jess, before Peggy could answer; "it's moving!"
The slender switch held by Mr. Bell was certainly behaving in a very odd manner. It could be seen to bend and sway and hop and skip about as if it had been suddenly endued with life. Mr. Bell, who was by now at some distance from the party, looked up with a satisfied expression.