"I'm burning up with curiosity to hear about everything, Howard," said Bob, "but——"
"Not a word till we pilot you to Canyon restaurant," laughed the other. "All meals out in the open."
"Um—um—lead us to it right away," cried the dripping Dave.
Howard led the way around a thick clump of trees, and they saw, close to the bluff, a well-built lean-to. Picks, shovels and other tools were scattered about, while just to one side was a great pile of broken stones.
Soon the hungry boys were engaged in disposing of cold rabbit, crackers, cheese and hot coffee, and before this pleasant occupation was brought to an end, Bob Somers briefly acquainted Fenton and Stuart Wells with the facts.
"Well, well!" exclaimed Fenton, when he had finished, "'Little Bill' responsible, eh? He's the cheekiest young rascal I ever met. Mighty lucky Wells and I happened to be here, eh? I tell you I was never more surprised in my life than when I heard you shout last night."
"You must have been," admitted Bob. "Now, Howard, for goodness' sake, tell us all about it."
"Yes! We can't wait a minute longer," put in Sam, impatiently.
"Well, it was this way," began Howard, settling himself comfortably on a log. "The 'Dauntless' was pretty close to the passageway, when, all of a sudden, I found that something was wrong with the rudder. The wind was pretty fresh that day—remember, Sam? Well, I didn't take in the sheet right away, as I should have done, but went to work to find out what was the trouble. Close by, I saw a floating log."
"Bumped in to it, eh?" asked Sam.