the
wall, and it was so dark that I could barely make out the form of the
dog crouching beside me. Safe hidden in the darkness, I determined to
rid the sleeping man of at least one of his enemies. Pulling the cork
from the bottle, I poured its contents on the rocks, thereby, as I
found, running imminent risk of a sneeze from Guard, who rolled his
head from side to side in distress as the pungent liquor penetrated
his nostrils. The danger passed, luckily, without noise. We crouched
in perfect silence, waiting for the hail-storm to pass. It was too
violent to be of long duration, yet I could not tell, after some
minutes of anxious listening, when it ceased, for the hail was
followed by a fresh deluge of rain. It was comfortable in the
cavern--warm and dry. The man, as his regular breathing testified,
slept soundly, and I thought, while I waited, that I, too, might as
well make myself easy. Softly pulling off the wet coat, I turned the
dryest side outward, and, rolling it into a compact bundle, placed it
under my head for a pillow. With the sleeper's armament between myself
and the rock at my back, with Guard vigilantly alive to any motion of
anything, inside the cavern or out, I felt entirely safe, and wearily
closed my eyes. It was pleasant lying there so sheltered and guarded,
to listen to the heavy rush of the rain--or was it hail?--or the
far-heard cry of wolves, or the rushing swirl of the river. I had not
slept well the night before, but I could not have been asleep many
minutes when I was awakened by a low growl from Guard. Brief as my
nap had been, it was, nevertheless, so sound that at first I was
bewildered and unable to recall what had happened. I started up
quickly, bumping my head against the rocky roof, and so effectually
recalling my scattered senses and the necessity for caution.

The sleeping cowboy had also awakened and was wandering aimlessly
about the cavern. He was muttering to himself, and his incoherent talk
soon told me that he was in anxious quest of the bottle that I was at
that moment sitting upon.

The sound of his own voice had, apparently, drowned that of Guard's.
Seeing this I put one hand on that attendant's collar and shook the
other threateningly in his face. He had been standing up, but sat
down, with, I was sure from the very feel of his fur, a most
discontented expression. In the silence the stranger's plaint made
itself distinctly audible:

"Leff' 'em on a table; 'n' whar is they