After awaiting Jack Norton's return for a reasonable length of time without his coming, breakfast was eaten, and the coffee pot replaced near the fire that it might be kept warm. Travis Gully took the pail, and leading two of his horses to the grassy spot, was allowing them to graze while the bucket was being filled when someone called to him: "Bring the horses up here, Mr. Gully; there is lots of water." Recognizing the voice as that of young Norton, Gully tried to locate him, but the resounding echoes along the coulee walls made it difficult to catch the direction from which the call came. The professor, who had strolled over near the cliff and was picking up and examining the pieces of rock that had fallen from above, had also heard Jack Norton's call, and knowing that it came from the coulee wall above, was searching the face of the cliff in order to locate him. Gully, seeing the professor's gaze centered on the cliff, knew at once where the boy was and called to him to come down, lest he fall and get hurt. To this Jack replied that he would soon be down, and as he moved they could easily distinguish his form, a mere speck it seemed at that dizzy height, flattened out with his back to the wall as he worked his way cautiously along the slippery ledge over which the water flowed. His hands were filled with ferns and plants, and he shouted jesting replies to the anxious watchers as they called to him to be careful. After a few moments he disappeared behind a jutting point; a few minutes later only the top of his head could be seen protruding from a crevice; after a half hour he came into camp, disheveled, tired and hungry, but all excitement over his adventure. He ate his breakfast while Travis Gully and the others each took their turn at telling him of the dangers that lurked in those cliffs in the way of loose boulders, hidden crevices and rattlesnakes. Gully expressed himself in no uncertain terms about his leaving camp without first having told them of his intention, and pictured to him the possibilities of a fall or other accident that might have befallen him and they, not knowing where he was, could render no assistance. Jack Norton submitted gracefully to this scolding and explained that he had heard the professor express a desire to obtain some of the specimens of ferns, and as he too was interested in the geological formations of the coulee he could not resist the temptation to explore the bluff. He had left camp before daylight and gone down the coulee in search of a place where he might scale the wall; after he had reached the ledge he assured them it was no trouble to work back to the point where he was discovered. His only regret was that he had caused them any uneasiness, and that he did not have more time for his investigations, as the locality afforded splendid opportunities for geological research.