“Then why don’t we start right away?” demanded Fred as he leaped to his feet.

In a brief time the party with their packs on their backs started toward the Gulch.  As has been said, the sides of the canyon at this place were not unduly steep, and, though the descent in places was difficult, none of the Go Ahead Boys had met with any mishap when at last they all safely arrived in the valley below.

There they halted for a rest and before they resumed their journey Zeke said, “It’s so warm here in the middle of the day that I feel as if I was suffocated.  I guess we’d better stay here where we be ’till we’ve cooked our dinner.”

The descent had required so much effort on the part of every one of the Go Ahead Boys that they were all willing to accede to the guide’s suggestion.

“Zeke, how far do you think we’ll have to go before we begin our search?” inquired Fred.

“We’ll have to go until we come to the claim,” replied the guide dryly.

“But when shall we begin to look?”

“Keep lookin’ all the while.  I’m thinkin’, though,” Zeke added, “that we shan’t have to go more than three or four miles from the rim.”

“You don’t suppose he has staked his claim right on the top of the ground, do you?” inquired George.

“What put that notion into your head?” laughed the guide.

“Why it looks so on Simon’s map.”

“That’s all right,” acknowledged Zeke.  “That map doesn’t show many gulches, does it?  But I’m not lookin’ for a claim right on the flat part of the rim.”

“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.