Bob Hampton of Placer

dull apathy now held the helpless defenders. One of the wounded died, a mere lad, sobbing pitifully for his mother; an infantryman, peering forth from his cover

nders nursing their slender stock, the savages biding their time. When night shut down the latter became bolder, and taunted cruelly those destined to become so soon their hapless victims. Twice the maddened men fired recklessly at those dancing devils, and one pitc

hand. Perhaps the severe strain of their situation, the intense loneliness of that Indian-haun

"are you game for a try

hed. His face was certainly not an unpleasant one to look upon, and there were others other sex who had discovered in it a c

ime and place for any indulgence in tantrums, and you 've got more sense. I 'm going to try to climb up the f

et remained facing him. "Who gave you

face until he could look squarely into hers. She read in the lines of t

emains only one possible path for escape, and I believe I have discovered it. Now, my girl, you either climb those rocks with me, or I shall kill you where you are. It i

he steel of his revolver, and she rea

ullet rather than t

t in that case you w

d me to be one, a

inly justified some such conclusion, but the opportuni

e it, Mr. Bob Hampton. If I go,

. "Hate and be damned," he exclaimed roughly. "All

. She was long accustomed to straight talk; it always meant business, a

it that way," sh

rom the rocks in their front, and a rifle barked savagely, its red flame cleaving the d

hispered, his fingers

et never moved, his breath perceptibly quickening, while he watched and waited. Without word or moan she bent yet lower, and pressed her lips upon the cold, white face. The man caught no more t

ight naturally suspect them for approaching savages. Every inch of their progress was attained through tedious groping, yet the distance to be traversed was short, and Hampton soon found himself pressing against the uprising precipice. Passing his fingers along the front, he finally found that narrow led

't be a square deal, Kid, to leave those poor fellows to thei

h calm assurance won his own way. He was strong, forceful, brave,-Homeric virtues of real worth in that hard life which she knew best. All this swept across her mind in a flash of revelation while she stood alone, her eyes endeavoring vainly to peer into the gloom. Then, suddenly, that black curtain was rent by jagged

anywhere; only g

asionally helped by encountering a deeper gash in the face of the precipice, her movements concealed by the scattered cedars, she toiled feverishly up, led by instinct, like any wild animal desperately driven by fear, and only partially conscious of the real dread of her terrible position. The first time she became aware that Hampton was closely following was when her feet slipped along a naked root, and she would hav

hispered, panting heavily. "We

re to lift their heads from off the hard rock; the girl sobbed silently, her slender form trembling; the fingers of the man closed more tightly about her hand. All at once the hideous uproar ceased with a final yelping of triumph, seemingly reechoed the entire length of the chasm, in the midst of which one single voice pleaded pitifully,-only to die away in a shriek. The two agonized fugitives lay listening, their ears strained to catch the slightest sound from

lack void, his thoughts upon other days long vanished but now brought back in all their bitterness by the mere proximity of this helpless waif who had fallen into his care. His features were drawn and haggard when the first gray dawn found ghastly reflection along the opposite rock summit, and with blurred eyes he watched the faint tinge of returning light steal downward in

ing of breath, reading that which she could no

, and most unpleasantly. No; please do not look down; it would only cause your head to reel, and our up

mand her obedience. With a slight shudder she glanc

e questioned

"There is no possibility of retracing our steps downward, but with the help

s climb, but his hand remained steady, his foot sure, while the girl moved forward as if remaining unconscious of the presence of danger, apparently swayed by his dominant will to do whatsoever he bade her. More than once they tottered on the very brink, held to safety merely by desperate clutchings at rock or shrub, yet never once did the man loosen his guarding grasp of his companion. Pressed tightly against the smooth rock, feeling for every crevice, every slightest irregularity of surface, making use of creeping tendril or dead branch, daring death along every inch of the way, these two creepers at last

se steep and jagged before them, a slender gash through the solid rock, up which they were often compelled to force their passage; again it became clogged with masses of debris, dead branches, and dislodged fragments of stone, across which they were obliged to struggle desperately, while once they completely halted before a sheer smoothnes

en plain, brown, desolate, drear, offering in all its wide expanse no hopeful promise of rescue, no slightest suggestion even of water, excepting a fringe of irregular trees, barely discernible against the horizon. That lorn, deserted waste, shimmering beneath the sun-rays, the heat waves already becoming manifest above the rock-strewn surface, presented

she asked at last, her lips parc

to her, although scarcely removing his fixed gaze from off that dreary plain. "We shall be obliged to

nd swaying a little from weakness, then, holding as

lmost angrily, "and am terribly tired and sore

d their strength, yet to remain where they were meant certain death; all hope found its centre amid those distant beckoning trees. Mechanically the girl gathered back her straying tresses, and tied them with a rag torn from her frayed skirt. Hampton noted silently how heavy and sunken her eyes were; he felt a du

it. Twice she fell heavily, and the last time she lay motionless, her face pressed against the short grass blades. He stood looking down upon her, his head reeling beneath the hot rays of the sun, barely conscious of what had occurred, yet never becoming totally dead to his duty. Painfully he stooped, lifted the limp, slender fi