"You'll tell us when to begin to look for the stakes, won't you?" asked Fred who was deeply interested in the project which now was distinctly before him.
"Don't you worry none about that," replied Zeke. "When you boys are ready to start you say the word and we'll leave."
"I guess we're all ready to go now," suggested Grant.
"Off we go then," said Zeke, as he promptly arose and swung his pack to his back.
The party by this time was moving in single file, Zeke still leading the way and Pete following as the rear guard.
The two young Navajos had not remained in the line for any continued length of time. They were moving back and forth, the expression of their shining eyes betraying their keen interest. Indeed, the possibility of discovering a mine had so aroused every member of the party that even the guide who was leading could not entirely conceal his excitement by his manner.
For nearly three hours the little expedition continued on its way. Climbing proved to be more difficult than the descent had been, but at last the party was near the rim.
There they halted once more while Zeke directed the Navajoes to move along the side of the gulch beneath the rim while the others continued on their way across the plateau.
"Yonder is Split Rock, I'm thinkin'," abruptly said Zeke as he stopped and pointed to a huge rock unlike any others which the boys had seen in the region. The stone had been cut almost as if by some huge knife. Several inches of the space between the halves had been filled in by the dust which the winds had deposited.
In the midst of the soil thus obtained a tree was growing which now had shot up at least twenty feet above the top of the great rock.