CHAPTER IX
on mogollon mesa
THE storm-cleared atmosphere was wonderfully crystalline as dawn broke in Stone Men Cañon. The four men breakfasted scantily and with difficulty made their way down the remnants of the trail. The narrow confines of the ravine had given the torrent its greatest power and the place was no longer recognizable. Not a tree was left standing. Most of them had entirely disappeared. Great masses of rock had been shifted, gravel scooped up, and mud and silt smeared everywhere. Where the ravine opened to the main cañon a great barrier had been piled up where the uprooted trees had interlaced. Buzzards were wheeling in the clear sky. But there was no visible trace of the Apaches.
"It's settled things in more ways than one," said Harvey. "Ye see, it's a hundred to one none of 'em escaped. Storm came too sudden an' too hard. Somewhar' down the main cañon thar's a mess o' horseflesh and human meat. Look at the buzzards. Our burros is thar, what's left of 'em. Now, figger it out. Course the dead Indians 'll be missed, but I doubt if much of the truth of the yarn ever comes out. Thet hamstrung chap may or may not hev' bin toted
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