Arizona -- Fiction; Grand Canyon (Ariz.) -- Fiction; Western stories
"I've been here before, Judge. Yes, by Jove, there's old Grant's
cabin. I wonder if any one's reached here yet!"
"Well, Milton, old man, here's thanks and congratulations," cried Enoch.
"You'd better thank the Almighty," returned Milton. "I certainly had
very little to do with our getting here."
The rain had prevented Agnew's recognizing their haven until they were
fairly upon it. Even now all that Enoch could see was a wide lateral
canyon with a rough unpainted shack above the waterline. A group of
cottonwoods loomed dimly through the mist beside a fence that
surrounded the house.
Jonas, who had seemed overcome with joy at Agnew's announcement,
recovered his power of speech by the time the boat was headed shoreward
and he raised a shout that echoed from wall to wall.
"Na-che! Ohee, Na-che! Here we are, Na-che!"
Agnew opened his lips to comment, but before he uttered the first
syllable there rose a shrill, clear call from the mists.
"Jonas! Ohee, Jonas!"
Enoch's pulse leaped. With sudden strength, he bent to his oars, and
the Ida slid softly upon the sandy shore. As she did so, two figures
came running through the rain.
"Diana!" cried Enoch, making no attempt for a moment to step from the
boat.
"Oh, what has happened!" exclaimed Diana, putting a hand under Milton's
head as he struggled to raise it.
"Just a broken leg, Miss Allen," he said, his parched lips parting in a
smile. "Have Forr and Hard turned up?"
"No! And Curly and Mack aren't here, either! O you poor things!
Here, let me help! Na-che, take hold of this stretcher, there, on the
other side with the Judge and Jonas. Finished short of grub, didn't
you! Let's bring Mr. Milton right up to the cabin."
The cabin consisted of but one room with an adobe fireplace at one end
and bunks on two sides. There was a warm glow of fire and the smell of
meat cooking. They laid Milton tenderly on a bunk and as they did so
Jonas gave a great sob:
"Welcome home, I say, boss, welcome home!"
CHAPTER XIII
GRANT'S CROSSING
"Perfect memories! They are more precious than hope, more priceless
than dreams of the future."--_Enoch's Diary_.
"Now, every one of you get into dry clothes as quickly as you can,"
said Diana. "No! Don't one of you try to stir from the cabin! Come,
Na-che, we'll bring the men's bags up and go out to our tent while they
shift."
The two women were gone before the men could protest. They were back
with the bags in a few moments and in almost less time than it takes to
tell, the crew of the Ida was reclothed, Enoch in the riding suit that
Jonas had left with some of his own clothes in Na-che's care. When
this was done, Na-che put on the coffee pot, while Diana served each of
them with a plate of hot rabbit stew.
"Don't try to talk," she said, "until you get this down. You'd better
help Mr. Milton, Na-che. Here, it will take two of us. Oh, you poor
dear! You're burning with fever."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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