With his saturated garments, the youth was chilled and anxious to reach a point where he could start a fire and obtain warmth for his body.

He had given over the expectation of seeing any more persons in the gorge and wished to look after his own comfort.
To this haste was to be attributed the second accident that overtook the young man.

He had no difficulty in locating the place to land, but he put too much vigor in the effort, so that when he struck the slippery rock his momentum carried him forward, and despite his resistance he took another plunge into the raging current before he could check himself.
The place was preferable to the previous one, for it was almost at the mouth of the canyon.

He was guiding himself as best he could, and on the alert to grasp something to check his swift progress, when he debouched into the broad, open pool or miniature lake at the break in the banks, where the current became so sluggish that he swam with ease.
"This is growing monotonous," he muttered, as, after a few strokes, his feet touched bottom and he walked out on dry land.

"My rifle is gone, but luckily I have kept my revolver for emergencies----" He got no further with the remark, for his hand had gone back to his hip with the result of discovering that the smaller weapon had been lost during his last bath.