OH, SHOOT! 



"and I'd like to be in a plush orchestra seat, 

 looking at it." 



Paul has a simple, clear way of putting 

 things. Had I dared to let go of anything I 

 would have gripped his hand. 



While the Grand Canon, as I have stated, 

 is mostly perpendicular, there are certain 

 slopes, reputed to be the result of erosion. 

 Such is not the reason of their being they 

 are the result of pressure from visiting tourists 

 who, in terror, have shoved them out of plumb. 



It began to rain early in the afternoon, and 

 inasmuch as our grass-fed horses were weak, 

 this being the third day they had been prac- 

 tically without food, we failed to "top out" 

 that night. When darkness came we spread 

 our fly in a thorny thicket and Pat molded 

 a set of death balls, which he case-hardened in 

 the Dutch oven. We had no baking-powder 

 the Shinumo had seen to that but minor 

 discomforts were forgotten in the cheerful 

 thought that each of us was all here. Having 

 escaped destruction thus far, we began to feel 

 hopeful that we could avoid coming to close 

 quarters with the cowardly cougar. In fact, 

 we began to dare to hope that we would not 

 even see one. 



168 



