"O Jonas!" called Enoch, who had been standing by the cave fire, an amused auditor of Jonas' tirade; "treat Na-che gently. She's leaving to-morrow."
"Leaving? Don't we go, too, boss?" asked Jonas.
"No, I'm going to see if I can go down river with the boats."
Curly, who was cleaning up in the cave, came out, comb in hand.
"You haven't gone crazy, have you, Judge?"
"No more than usual, Curly. How about it, Milton?" as that sturdy personage came up from the river and dropped wearily down by the fire. "Don't you need another man?"
"Yes, Judge, we're two short. One of our fellows broke an arm a week ago and we had to send him out, with another chap to help him."
"Will you let me work my passage as far as Bright Angel?" asked Enoch.
Milton scowled thoughtfully. "It's a god-awful job. You realize that, do you?"
Enoch nodded. Milton turned to Harden and the other two men. "What do you fellows think?"
"We're awful short-handed," replied Harden, cautiously. "Can you swim, Judge?"
"But gee willikums, Judge, what're we going to do without you?" demanded Mack. "Ain't that just the usual luck? You get a cook trained and off he goes!"
"And how about that deal of ours, Smith?" asked Curly, in a low voice.
"I haven't forgotten it for a moment, Curly," Enoch replied. "I'll talk to you about it, to-night. How about it, Milton?"
"Can you stand rotten hard luck without belly-aching?" asked Agnew.
"Yes, he can!" exclaimed Mack, "but he's a darn fool to think of going. It's as risky as the devil and nobody that's got a family dependent on 'em ought to consider it for a moment."
"I have no one," said Enoch quietly. "And I'm strong and hard as nails."
"What fool ever sent you folks out?" asked Curly.
"It's not a fool trip, really," expostulated Milton. "It's very necessary for a good many reasons that the government have more accurate geographical and geological knowledge of this section."
"What part of the government do you work for?" asked Mack.
"The Geological Survey. It's a bureau in the Department of the Interior."
"Oh, then Huntingdon's your Big Boss!" exclaimed Mack. "Do you know him?"
"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.