There was nothing so startling that Mr. Temple could see but a few small holes and some footprints here and there. Also, some blackened embers, evidently the remnants of campfires long since dead, that had been blown hither and thither by the mischievous summer breezes. “What,” Mr. Temple asked, “would that signify?” “Them surveyors,” Uncle Jeb replied with a rueful shake of his head. “They come as fur as here and they didn’t go back and they didn’t go on.” He was now gazing significantly up a trail that led up to the hollow that he had previously pointed out. “Do you think by any chance they were up there?” Mr. Temple asked anxiously. “Dunno,” he replied, “I warned them not ter go, I know that! Thar’s been a little landslide here since I passed and thet would cover up the tracks--if thar wuz any.” Mr. Temple looked and found that parts of the trail were indeed covered with sand and rock. Becoming alarmed he turned to Uncle Jeb searchingly. “I’m sorry, Mr. Temple,” he said. “Yuh kin go up if yer want to, but I’m a-thinkin’ yuh won’t find nuthin.” However, Uncle Jeb led the way up the trail and, needless to say, they searched, they shouted and in a frenzy Mr. Temple rushed to a trail that ran back of the cliff, but to his distraction soon realized that it became impassable after a few feet and finally obliterated itself in the impenetrable fastnesses of the deep mountain forest. “And so your father went on to Mr. Rushmore’s cabin,” said Mrs. Temple. “Didn’t he look in the hollow?” Mary breathlessly asked. “Oh, yes, my dear.” “Did he succeed with Mr. Ezra Knapp then?” “No, it was all futile.” “Why so, Mother?” “He said he had changed his mind and refused to honor the agreement.” “How perfectly mean!” Mary exclaimed. “But couldn’t Father hold him to it after making such a contract?” “Assuredly in any other case, but you see this was different.” “How so?” “The agreement disappeared along with the surveyors!” CHAPTER XII—MR. MARTIN’S ULTIMATUM After leaving Artie, Westy strolled home thoughtfully in the haze of an early fall afternoon. He was thrilled beyond measure and equally despondent at the same time, over the knowledge that he would never be able to see those mountain passes where the surveyors had met their doom. He was sorry, of course, that such a calamity had befallen those poor fellows, but there was no denying, he secretly admitted, that it added still more zest and charm than before to that haven of Paradise in the far-off Rockies. It was certainly an Eden-like temptation to poor Westy to have heard that story, for the more he thought about it, the greater his desire became to participate in the wild life for one whole glorious summer. Still, he realized that some great good fortune would have to wave its fairy wand over the Martin household to convince his respected father that he was able to take care of himself and come back safe from that hazardous wilderness.