Jim was not above adding to his reputation by a certain mystery, which gave the impression that he controlled certain occult forces which he did not choose to explain to the ignorant and the uninitiated.
"You guessed right," I said after we had ridden down a ways above the wall of the canyon. "You certainly have pretty good luck."
"We are above the camp now," said Jim, "let's see if we can wake them up?"
He put his hands to his lips and gave a yell loud enough to wake the dead. No response.
"I'm going down to make sure," he said.
So he swung himself off Piute, and followed by Santa the two soon disappeared, leaving me alone, but I was used to that. So I dismounted to give Coyote a rest. I hope Jim will be able to find water down there, I said to myself.
I did not have very long to wait, when I saw Jim, toiling up from below.
"What luck?" I asked.
He shook his head.
"They haven't been around since the fire and the pack horses are gone."