'Never!' exclaimed the young people, with one deafening shout.

'Never,' echoed Philip separately. 'I have vowed that a bed shall
not know me for three months, and I'll keep my vow.'

'What do you say to this, Uncle Doc?' said Geoffrey. 'Suppose you go
up to the storehouse and office,--it's about a mile,--and see if the
goods are there all right, and whether the men saw Pancho on his way
up to the canyon. Meanwhile, Phil and I will ride over here
somewhere to get a team, or look up Senor Don Manuel Felipe Hilario
Noriega. Jack can stay with Aunt Truth and the girls, to watch
developments.'

'But, papa, can't we pitch the camp to-night, somehow?' asked Bell,
piteously.

'I don't see how. We are behindhand already; and if we get started
within an hour we can't reach the ground I selected before dark and
we can't choose any nearer one, because if Pancho is anywhere in
creation he is on the identical spot I sent him to.'

'But, Dr. Paul, I'll tell you what we could do,' suggested Jack. 'If
we get any kind of a start, we can't fail to reach camp by seven or
eight o'clock at latest. Now it's bright moonlight, and if we find
Pancho, he'll have the baggage unloaded, and Hop Yet will have a fire
lighted. What's to prevent our swinging the hammocks for the ladies?
And we'll just roll up in our blankets by the fire, for to-night.
Then we'll get to housekeeping in the morning.'

This plan received a most enthusiastic reception.