"He insists on keeping down toward the canyon," was Frank's reply.
"We came cat-cornering down the slope, didn't we?"

"We certainly did," Ned answered, considering the matter gravely.
"Tell you what you do," he went on, "let the mule have his head! Let
him go just where he wants to. It is the instinct of animals to
follow precedent, same as men. A man will follow a cow path until it
becomes a city street, and a cow, a horse, or a mule will follow a
trail previously used--if only passed over once! Let the mule have
his head, and he may take us to the place where somebody was dumped!"

"Solomon had nothing on you, Ned!" laughed Frank. "Go to it! Uncle
Ike, it is you for the scene of the abduction! And you may go just as
fast as you please!"

The mule started off at a fast pace, keeping to the bottom of the
valley and finally entering the canyon at the south end. Ned walked
by Frank's side, his hand on the stirrup, listening for a sound he
dreaded to hear. He was afraid one of the boys had been thrown from
the animal's back, and might be lying, suffering, in one of the
crevices or breaks which marked the bottom of the canyon.

After traveling some little distance in the canyon, Frank drew up and
pointed ahead.

"Right over there," he said, "is the spot where we saw the smoke
signs!"

"That's a fact!" Ned answered. "One of the boys must have come here
to investigate and left Uncle Ike without tying! The mule has been