The statement by the Professor that the hole into which George fell, some months before, contained asphaltum, hinted at a possible source of petroleum, and through the persistent efforts of George, the Professor agreed to accompany him to the place to make an investigation.
The yaks were yoked, and a good luncheon put up, prepared for a day's jaunt, the trip being planned for the day of the week which had been set apart for exploration purposes. Within an hour the team was tethered at the spot where Harry and George put up the team when they started out on their former tour of investigation.
"Now, George, we shall have to depend on you to lead the way."
"When I left Harry we were on the little hill beyond that clump of bushes."
"We must have been much farther away," was Harry's opinion.
"Let us go over at any rate, and we can probably get our bearings from there."
The spot pointed out was just as much a mystery after reaching it as before. It was suggested that, as neither knew how to determine the direction of the "hole" from that point, time might be saved by each taking a different direction, with the understanding that if anything was discovered a shot should be fired as a signal.
After carefully noting the two large trees where the team was located, they separated, Harry going to the north, George to the northwest and the Professor directly west. The ridge on which they were ran north and south, and to the west was a decline. It was considerably south of the trail taken on their former trips, so it was really undiscovered territory.
The Professor passed down the long incline, carefully noting every set of bush, such as George declared he had passed through at the time he was deposited in the "hole." When the bottom of the ravine was reached he turned to the right, working his way diagonally up the hill.
George, on the other hand, made for some bush ahead of him, which looked familiar, but in this he was disappointed, and going to the left, considerably farther down the hill, was rewarded by the rediscovery of the "hole." Without waiting he fired a shot, and to his surprise found the Professor within a hundred feet.