“The same gintleman that addrissed me so politely last night,” exclaimed Teddy, in a whisper, although it will be seen that, when this interview took place, the Irishman was denied view of the features of the stranger, so that this assertion was more of a guess than any thing else. The question now was, whether they should go forward and make the acquaintance of this stranger, or quietly withdraw and leave him to his musings. As they were engaged in the hunt for gold, it was not very desirable to have any more partners than they already had, and so, after a short and earnest conference, the hunters stealthily made their way back to the cañon, and continued their way down it until they reached “head-quarters.” Every thing here was found as they had left it, but there were no signs of Black Tom. “Where can he be?” was the question they asked of each other, and, as hour after hour passed away, they could do nothing but conjecture the cause of his absence. As they had heard no shout or discharge of gun, they hoped that nothing serious had befallen him. At a late hour the two lay down and slept until morning, and when they rose with the break of day, their friend was still missing; but, to their inexpressible relief, he came upon the stage of action in the course of an hour. “B’ars and bufflers!” he exclaimed, in answer to their questions; “but this is a little the quarest place I ever got in. What do you s’pose I’ve been doin’?” “Makin’ a fool of yourself,” replied old Stebbins. “No need of that, when I’ve got a couple handy, always,” retorted Black Tom; “but what do you think it was?” “Dancing the Donnybrook jig,” replied Teddy. “Ye might’ve got some old she-bear, or the baste fur yer partner; yees would be a fine couple, and well matched.” “_No, sir; I’ve been chasin’ a gal!_” “Did ye catch her?” “No, ’cause I daresn’t.” The trapper was in earnest, and here is the experience he gave: After separating from his friends, on the preceding evening, he had quietly pursued his way down the cañon, and had nearly reached his home, when he heard the tramp of a horse, near at hand. The darkness was so great that he could see nothing, but he knew the horse was coming directly toward him; so he stepped to one side and allowed it to pass. The horse snuffed, and showed some uneasiness, proving that he was aware of the personality of some one, but he continued steadily onward, and passed by. “I’ll foller and l’arn somethin’ ’bout yer,” concluded the trapper, as he moved silently behind the animal, that could be easily followed by the sound of its hoofs. A short distance on the animal turned off into what might be termed a branch cañon, leading off at a sharp angle from the one that held Stebbins and Teddy at that moment. Indeed, the hunters had observed through the day that there were several entrances into the chasm in which they had chosen to make their quarters for the time.