"howard fenton—i thought it was his voice," gasped bob. "great scott!"

"howard fenton!" exclaimed dave, while sam randall uttered a joyous shout, ejaculating, "it's the strangest thing i ever heard of."

"and the finest," declared bob, enthusiastically. "chubby, i can scarcely believe it's true."

"nor i," declared the delighted dave.

volleys of questions were hurled back and forth, but the noise of the waterfall made conversation difficult, and it was decided to postpone explanations until the following morning.

they learned one thing, however—howard fenton was not hemmed in as they were, and he was not alone.

what a difference a few minutes had made. when the tumult of emotions had subsided, the boys talked and laughed until weariness could no longer be denied.

hunger was forgotten, and they slept until the rosy glow of early morning was tingeing the clouds. faces were washed in the clear water, and they felt somewhat better.

this had scarcely been finished, when a cheery shout greeted their ears. howard fenton and his companion had appeared in view. the latter carried a long rope.

"i said, dave, that i'd take a chance with you this morning, and try for the other side," said bob. "it's good-bye to blackberry valley, now. hello, howard!" he shouted.

fenton again waved his hand, and shouted, "are you ready to come over?"

"yes!"

"listen! it's a dangerous swim, unless you're feeling pretty husky. it wouldn't do to take any chances."

"we'd starve over here—nothing else for us to do, howard."

"the cataract is about a quarter of a mile below," went on fenton. "if you should miss the ledge where we had the fire last night—well—nothing can save you. but when you get near enough, we'll throw a line. grab it and hang on for all you are worth."

fenton tried to speak lightly, but his tones showed a suppressed agitation which the boys did not fail to notice.

"well," said sam, in an undertone, gritting his teeth and glancing at the gurgling water, "we aren't out of the woods yet."

"we'll be in 'em sure enough when we strike the water," observed dave, with a faint smile.

"i'll go first," announced bob, "and the best place to start from is the upper end of the valley." then, raising his voice, he yelled, "are you ready, howard? got your rope?"

quickly, the three walked to the most favorable point on the beach.

"good-bye, fellows, i'll see you on the other side."

it was a moment that none of the little group would ever forget. dave brandon and sam randall gripped the captain's hand.

"keep a stiff upper lip, bob, old man," whispered the "poet."

bob somers drew a long breath. it took all the courage he possessed to deliberately launch himself into canyon river, but he waved his hand to the others, and took the plunge.

in an instant he was buffeting the powerful current. again he saw the gray walls flying swiftly by; again the water lapped and splashed around him and murmured and sang.

the swimmer kept his eyes fixed on the opposite cliff and its rugged outline rising from the ledge where howard fenton and his companion awaited him. already he was approaching it; the boom of the falls suddenly seemed to grow louder.

"here comes the rope—look out for it!" he heard a voice cry.

bravely battling, bob somers caught a momentary glimpse of the lariat hurtling through the air. with a hiss, it fell a few feet in front—the one thing which stood between him and the dreaded cataract.

but the throw had been well-timed, and the captain, with his nerves set to the keenest tension, grasped the line just as it was beginning to sink.

desperately, he clung to it.

"we'll have you ashore in a moment, bob," called howard fenton; "hang on to it."

dave and dick's yell of exultation followed—bob somers was safe at last.

a slight pull on the rope swerved him sufficiently from his course, and he swung in directly toward the ledge; then, a few seconds later, willing hands dragged him ashore, where he lay panting and exhausted.

"my stars, but i am thankful for this!" exclaimed fenton, fervently.

"a good swim," said his companion, with an approving nod.

the first thing bob somers did upon rising was to shake his rescuers warmly by the hand.

"well, howard," he gasped, "this is a mighty strange meeting."

"you bet it is, old man," exclaimed the new york boy. "but say, bob, i guess you'd better not do much talking till you get a bite to eat. ready, eh?"

"for a mile of anything but blackberries," smiled bob.

"out in the wilds, i was forgetting my parlor manners—bob, this is stuart wells."

the two again shook hands.

"and now," laughed wells, "those other castaways are getting impatient. who's that yelling?"

"sam randall," said bob. "hi, hi!" he shouted. "ready, eh? come ahead!"

stuart wells stood calmly, with lariat in hand. he watched sam randall spring into the water, and at the critical moment again sent the rope in a graceful curve through the air.

bob somers drew a breath of relief when he saw his chum seize it.

no sooner had sam been assisted to a place of safety on the ledge than dave brandon followed his example, and the good-natured "poet" soon joined the group.

it was a happy reunion, but even in their thankfulness the ramblers could not forget the clamoring of nature.

"i'm burning up with curiosity to hear about everything, howard," said bob, "but——"

"not a word till we pilot you to canyon restaurant," laughed the other. "all meals out in the open."

"um—um—lead us to it right away," cried the dripping dave.

howard led the way around a thick clump of trees, and they saw, close to the bluff, a well-built lean-to. picks, shovels and other tools were scattered about, while just to one side was a great pile of broken stones.

soon the hungry boys were engaged in disposing of cold rabbit, crackers, cheese and hot coffee, and before this pleasant occupation was brought to an end, bob somers briefly acquainted fenton and stuart wells with the facts.

"well, well!" exclaimed fenton, when he had finished, "'little bill' responsible, eh? he's the cheekiest young rascal i ever met. mighty lucky wells and i happened to be here, eh? i tell you i was never more surprised in my life than when i heard you shout last night."

"you must have been," admitted bob. "now, howard, for goodness' sake, tell us all about it."

"yes! we can't wait a minute longer," put in sam, impatiently.

"well, it was this way," began howard, settling himself comfortably on a log. "the 'dauntless' was pretty close to the passageway, when, all of a sudden, i found that something was wrong with the rudder. the wind was pretty fresh that day—remember, sam? well, i didn't take in the sheet right away, as i should have done, but went to work to find out what was the trouble. close by, i saw a floating log."

"bumped in to it, eh?" asked sam.

"i had come about on a tack, and think the rudder must have struck it squarely, for i found that it was broken loose and wouldn't respond to the tiller. it was some minutes before i realized that it was damaged beyond repair.

"all the while, the wind and current were taking me toward the gorge and i soon discovered what a serious blunder i'd made. down came the sail in a jiffy—but too late. i'll never forget how i felt when the 'dauntless' made straight for the entrance to the river."

fenton lowered his voice and shivered.

"awful," murmured bob.

"tommy and i saw you," cried sam.

"i didn't see anything but that terrible gorge," continued howard. "the 'dauntless' wobbled and twisted, and nearly keeled over when we passed white rocks. whew!—'fearful' is about the word that hits it. the boat shot into the canyon and i gave up hope."

"we know what sensations you had," exclaimed bob somers. "don't see how they could be worse."

"as luck would have it, the 'dauntless' was so close to the opposite cliffs when the first valley was reached that i was afraid to risk a swim. so i stayed where i was, and it turned out to be a mighty good thing that i did. the boat hit that jutting point over there, and i didn't lose any time in getting off."

"how about the 'dauntless'?" questioned sam.

"she swung around, started off again, and went over the fall."

"must be a big one," commented dave.

"a crackerjack," said howard. "we'll go down and see it, after a while."

"keep on with your story," urged sam.

"needn't tell you how thankful i was for getting on solid ground again," went on fenton. "when my nerves stopped shaking i looked about, and found——"

"blackberries?" said bob.

"yes," laughed the other, "and, i might as well tell you, traces of silver in the rocks."

"of silver?" echoed the boys, in surprise.

"yes, sir! i've studied a bit on those subjects. told you i was going to take a course in college—remember, bob? well, it didn't take long for me to be satisfied that there was plenty of it, too."

"gee!" said sam.

"mighty interesting," murmured bob, while dave stood straight up and stared at the rocks.

fenton resumed:

"but, fellows, it wasn't very long before i forgot all about silver—thought i was bottled up for sure."

"and how did you get out at last?" questioned sam, eagerly.

"i'm coming to that. talk about being scared—i had to stay all night in the blooming valley. early next morning i began to hunt around for a place to climb out, and, at length, found one that wasn't so bad. it took a long time to get to the top of the cliff, and once near got an awful shock."

"how?" asked sam, with interest.

"came to a wide ledge, with a big, round pile of rock above—it looked like my finish; i couldn't see any way around it."

"gee!" said sam again.

"had a pretty hard time of it," remarked bob, sympathetically.

"but i was desperate—thought that the ledge was wide enough to catch me, if i fell—and so kept right on. luckily, there were enough irregularities to afford a foothold."

"guess you were glad when you reached the top?" said dave.

"you bet i was; and exhausted, too."

"what did you do after that?" asked dave.

"started right off. i had a compass and a pretty fair idea of the direction. i blazed a trail—believe that's what you call it—so as to know the place again."

"how?" queried sam.

"with a big jack-knife. in about two hours i came across some loggers. by that time i was so played out with hunger and excitement that i collapsed completely—don't believe i could have gone a step further, bob. of course i was an object of curiosity, but they were a good-hearted lot, and gave me all i wanted to eat. beans, bacon and coffee tasted good, i can tell you. well, it was simply great."

"guess it fixed you up all right," said bob.

"no, it didn't. i was so stiff and sore and had such a headache that it was a bunk for me the whole of that day and most of the next. one of the men, jake lawson, took a letter to the railroad station. of course, it was to my father, and in it i told him that if he cared anything about a pile of silver it might be well to keep the whole thing quiet for a while."

"then you didn't tell the loggers what had happened to you?" exclaimed bob, in great astonishment.

"no—they thought i had merely wandered off and become lost in the woods."

"how did your father manage to find the place?"

"oh, jake lawson met him at the station and piloted him through the woods. i tell you, he was glad to see me alive and well, for by that time i was all right again."

"i'll bet he was," commented dave.

"my tale about the silver impressed him very much, and he thought it worth while to investigate fully. he did two things right away—sent for a mining expert," fenton paused and waved his hand toward stuart wells, "then for one of his trusted old watchmen, neil prescott."

"ah, ha! now we're coming to something," exclaimed sam, with interest. "we know neil prescott, all right."

howard smiled.

"father only consented to my returning to the valley on condition that i would keep in constant communication with neil, and——"

"bully!" interjected sam.

"never attempt that climb unless it was absolutely necessary. as for going up and down, carrying provisions and making an indefinite stay—well, he wouldn't hear of it."

"don't wonder a bit," said sam.

"anyway, we hit upon a splendid scheme. i happened to remember that log hut on promontory and suggested that neil might fix it up and stay there a while."

"well, well—also, did you ever!" cried bob.

"i got up a code of signals; and another dandy thing was the way neil managed to——"

"now i see the whole thing," put in sam, with a grin. "he floated down your provisions. aha! that explains all his mysterious doings—now we know why your father happened out on the lake that night."

"yes! you've learned the whole story," laughed fenton.

"mighty interesting," observed dave brandon. "and the silver?"

"it's going to pan out well," said the mining expert. "i guess howard's discovery will add a few dollars to his father's pocket-book."

"i hope so," put in fenton. "of course the pater and wells here knew how to go about things, and we have our claim fully protected. probably a company will be formed in a short time, and the three of us may be out here a good deal, later on. wells has plans already made for a hoist up the cliff, and a road from there won't be hard to make."

"i'm jolly glad to hear of your good luck, howard," said bob, his eyes sparkling.

"count me in on that," added dave, warmly.

"and sam randall is as much pleased as anybody," exclaimed the owner of that name.

"enjoy it down here, all bottled up?" asked bob somers.

"oh, yes—of course—but not until i found that the cork was out."

howard smiled faintly, while several of his hearers laughed, and the former then added, "we were going to let you know as soon as possible that i was very much alive. pater said it was a downright shame not to tell you fellows right away. honestly, it was my fault—but it's all right, isn't it, eh?"

"all right, old man," said bob, and they shook hands all around.