The Last of the Plainsmen 



north rim, we left him with one of Jones s men, 

 called Rust, who was working on the canon trail. 

 Rust s instructions were to bring Moze to Flagstaff 

 in two weeks. He brought the dog a little ahead of 

 time, and roared his appreciation of the relief it was 

 to get the responsibility off his hands. And he related 

 many strange things, most striking of which was how 

 Moze had broken his chain and plunged into the 

 raging Colorado River, and tried to swim it just 

 above the terrible Sockdolager Rapids. Rust and 

 his fellow-workmen watched the dog disappear in the 

 yellow, wrestling, turbulent whirl of waters, and had 

 heard his knell in the booming roar of the falls. 

 Nothing but a fish could live in that current; nothing 

 but a bird could scale those perpendicular marble 

 walls. That night, however, when the men crossed 

 on the tramway, Moze met them with a wag of his 

 tail. He had crossed the river, and he had come 

 back! 



To the four reddish-brown, big-framed blood 

 hounds I had given the names of Don, Tige, Jude 

 and Ranger; and by dint of persuasion, had succeeded 

 in establishing some kind of family relation between 

 them and Moze. This night I tied up the blood 

 hounds, after bathing and salving their sore feet; 

 and I left Moze free, for he grew fretful and surly 

 under restraint 



10 



