BY a remarkable coincidence Dick Hamilton trod in the very steps of his brother Harvey while groping about the gorge, and went crashing and tumbling to the bottom in the precise fashion of his predecessor.  
Retaining his grasp on his Winchester, he strove desperately to check his descent, but from the causes mentioned failed and landed on his feet, bewildered and unable for the moment to comprehend what had taken place. The racket and his exclamations roused Harvey, who was so mystified that he whipped out his revolver and fired a shot in the direction of the noise without being able to discern his target.
 
“Stop that!” shouted the elder; “you may hit me!”
 
“Heavens, Dick, is it you?” demanded the younger.
 
Finding himself unharmed, Dick’s waggery asserted itself.
 
“I don’t know who else it is. That’s the way[191] I always come downstairs. What are you doing here?”
 
“Waiting to welcome you.”
 
“A pretty way to receive a long lost brother by shooting at him.”
 
“I didn’t harm you, did I?”
 
“Of course not, for you aimed at me.”
 
“How could I do that when I didn’t see you?”
 
“All the same in both cases. But I say, Harv, what does all this mean? It’s the queerest mix up I ever ran into.”
 
“The same with me; I tumbled down that bank while picking my way along the edge.”
 
“You see the effect of a bad example. How long have you been here?”
 
“It seems about a month, but I guess it is only a few hours.”
 
“Why didn’t you answer my signals?”
 
“For the same reason that you didn’t answer mine.”
 
“But I was so near when I last called that you ought to have heard me.”
 
“So I should if I hadn’t been asleep. You woke me rather suddenly.”
 
“Couldn’t help it; you might have put up a notice warning me to look out. But I say, Harv, what sort of a hotel is this?”
 
[192]“One that I should like very much to leave.”
 
“Why haven’t you done so?”
 
“Couldn’t; I wish you would show me the way out.”
 
“Take the first door you come to.”
 
“But there isn’t any door; I tried to bid farewell until I had to give it up.”
 
Harvey now told the particulars of his mishap. The gloom was so deep that neither could see even the outlines of the other. But their hands met and both were thankful over their escape, though their situation was anything but enviable. Dick drew out his match safe and held the tiny flame above his head. As the reflection lighted each face, they laughed.
 
“We set out to find Bunk,” said the elder, “and now it’s up to him to find us. You say you know of no way of climbing out of this gorge?”
 
“Not unless some one gives us help. I have tried it over and over again, and shouted until I was hoarse, but without any one hearing me.”
 
“I certainly did not. Now instead of one young Hamilton in a hole there are two. That makes the situation twice as bad as before. Why haven’t you started a fire?”
 
“The fuel is too green.”
 
“Thereby resembling us. However, we must[193] find some way to leave in the morning. You see, Harv, we haven’t our outer coats, nor any food, nor moisture enough to wet our lips. By and by our situation will become a bore.”
 
“It is pretty near that now.”
 
Since it was certain they would have to spend the night there, they seated themselves where Harvey had been resting when awakened with such startling suddenness.
 
“Did you learn anything of Bunk?” asked Dick.
 
“I didn’t get the first trace.”
 
“I knew you wouldn’t when you left me.”
 
“How did you make out?”
 
“I found the cave where he was staying and had a talk with him.”
 
“What!” exclaimed the amazed Harvey; “do you tell me that?”
 
“I suppose it is hardly fair to say I had a talk with him, being that I did all the talking and he hadn’t a word to reply.”
 
“Why not?”
 
“Fact is I didn’t lay eyes on him; he kept out of sight.”
 
Thereupon the elder related his experience after the two had parted company. There was no doubt that he had come upon the temporary[194] dwelling of the missing Bohunkus, but the fellow eluded him.
 
“We’ll have him yet,” added Dick, “and if I feel then as I do now, I’ll teach him a lesson he won’t forget if he lives a thousand years.”
 
“Perhaps he deserves it, though I don’t blame him as much as you do.”
 
“I am speaking for myself, and I’ll drop a hint to you that it won’t be prudent to interfere. I may be in a different mood when I reach him.”
 
“Remember, you haven’t reached him as yet and there’s no saying when you will.”
 
“I haven’t any doubt that the morning will show us so easy a way of getting out of this hole, that you’ll be disgusted because you didn’t see it at once.”
 
Dick’s optimism cheered Harvey. They talked for two hours and then both succumbed to drowsiness. They adjusted their positions so as to bring a part of their bodies in contact, thus gaining a slight degree of mutual warmth. While the night continued cool they did not suffer, and the slumber into which they sank lasted without break until morning.
 
Dick was the first to regain his senses. Gently moving so as not to disturb his brother he made a minute inspection of the gorge, passing twice[195] around it, and studying every spot upon which it seemed possible to build hope. He was scrutinizing the inward sloping wall overhead which Harvey had tried to climb when the latter, still seated, looked up.
 
“Well, what do you make of it?”
 
“I must own that it looks dubious. I don’t see any way of getting to the top. I thought of raising you on my shoulders but that wouldn’t amount to anything.”
 
“It will do no good to whistle or shout, for no one, unless near, can hear us. How long before Hunter and Wadsworth will suspect something is wrong and set out to hunt you up?”
 
“They will probably wait for one or two weeks, by which time we should be somewhat hungrier and thirstier than now, though that doesn’t seem possible. Then,” grimly added Dick, “if they come to this spot they would probably tumble into the gorge the same as we did, and we should all ............