"
"Will you let me work my passage as far as Bright Angel?" asked Enoch.
Milton scowled thoughtfully. "It's a god-awful job. You realize that,
do you?"
Enoch nodded. Milton turned to Harden and the other two men. "What do
you fellows think?"
"We're awful short-handed," replied Harden, cautiously. "Can you swim,
Judge?"
"I'm a strong swimmer."
"But gee willikums, Judge, what're we going to do without you?"
demanded Mack. "Ain't that just the usual luck? You get a cook
trained and off he goes!"
"And how about that deal of ours, Smith?" asked Curly, in a low voice.
"I haven't forgotten it for a moment, Curly," Enoch replied. "I'll
talk to you about it, to-night. How about it, Milton?"
"Can you stand rotten hard luck without belly-aching?" asked Agnew.
"Yes, he can!" exclaimed Mack, "but he's a darn fool to think of going.
It's as risky as the devil and nobody that's got a family dependent on
'em ought to consider it for a moment."
"I have no one," said Enoch quietly. "And I'm strong and hard as
nails."
"What fool ever sent you folks out?" asked Curly.
"It's not a fool trip, really," expostulated Milton. "It's very
necessary for a good many reasons that the government have more
accurate geographical and geological knowledge of this section.
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