"What's that?" asked Grant.
"Why, they're so afraid of rattlesnake bites that they keep loaded up with whisky all the time. That's the best antidote for the snake bite and these fellows must have been bitten about three times a day, most of them."
Zeke said no more and in a brief time all three were moving steadily across the table-land.
Late in the afternoon Zeke stopped and pointed to a place far in the distance, "Yonder is right near Thorn's Gulch," he explained. "We ought to get there in about three hours."
"Three hours!" exclaimed George. "Why how far is it from here?"
"About eleven miles."
It was almost impossible for either of the boys to believe that the spot to which Zeke had pointed was so far distant. The air was so clear that the place appeared to be much nearer than it really was and if they had been asked each boy would have stated his opinion that the intervening distance could be covered within an hour.
"There are two ways now which we can take," explained Zeke.
"You mean we can take them both, or either of them?" laughed George.
Ignoring the question which the guide gruffly referred to as "smart," Zeke explained that they could go down into the canyon a short distance in advance of them and follow the course until they came to the entrance to Thorn's Gulch.