“Never met him,” replied Milton.  “He doesn’t know the small fry in his department.”

“He sits in Washington and gets the glory while you guys do the work, eh!” said Curly.

“I don’t think you should put it that way, Curly,” protested Mack.  “Enoch Huntingdon’s a big man and he’s done more real solid work for his country than any man in Washington to-day and I’ll bet you on it.”

“Right you are!” exclaimed Forrester.  “My oldest brother was in college with Huntingdon.  Says he was a good fellow, a brilliant student and even then he could make a speech that would break your heart.  His one vice was gambling.  He—­”

“My father knew Huntingdon!” Diana spoke quickly.  “He knew him when he was a long-legged, red-headed boy of fourteen.  My father was his guide down Bright Angel trail.  Dad always said that he never met as interesting a human being as that boy.”

“Queer thing about personal charm,” contributed Agnew.  “I heard Huntingdon make one of his great speeches when he was Police Commissioner.  I was just a little kid and he was a big, homely, red-headed chap, but I remember how my kid heart warmed to him and how I wished I could get up on the stage and get to know him.”

“So he was a gambler, was he?” Curly spoke in a musing voice.  “Well, if he was once, he is now.  It’s a worse vice than drink.”

“How come you say that, Mr. Curly?” demanded Jonas.

“In the meantime,” interrupted Enoch, gruffly, “how about my trip down the Canyon?”

“Well,” replied Milton, “if you go at it with your eyes open, I don’t see why you can’t try it as far as Grant’s Crossing.  That’s seventy-five miles west of here.  Barring accidents, we should reach there in a week, cleaning up the survey as we go along.  If you live to reach there, you can either go out or come along, as you wish.  But understand that from the time we leave here till we reach Grant’s Crossing, there’s no way out of the Canyon, at least as far as the maps indicate.”

“Say, the placer where I found my nugget is just above Grant’s!” exclaimed Harden.  “Why don’t you placer fans start on west and we’ll all try to meet there in a week’s time.  I couldn’t tell Field where it was in a hundred years.”

“Suits me!” exclaimed Curly.

“Me too!” echoed Mack.

“Then,” said Enoch, “will you take Jonas along as cook, Mack?”

“You bet!” cried Mack.

“Does that suit you, Jonas?” asked Enoch.

“No, boss, it don’t suit me.  I’ve gotta go with you.  I ain’t never going to live through it, but I’ll die praying.”

A shout went up of laughter and expostulation, but Jonas, though grim with terror, was entirely unmoved.  Nothing, not even mortal horror of the Colorado could break his determination never to be separated from Enoch again.  His agitation was so deep and so obvious that Enoch and Milton finally gave in to him.