light of joy over his rescue,
if rescue should come.

He smoked several cigarettes, until the waning of his supply of tobacco
warned him to economize against future cravings. Realizing that even if
his friends were within a stone's throw of him they would not be likely
to find him unless he gave some sign of his presence, he got to his feet
and, making a trumpet out of his hands, shouted loudly. He repeated this
a dozen times, or more, and was about to sink back upon the sand when he
heard footsteps approaching on the ground overhead. He had little idea
that a friend was responding to his call, but being unarmed he could do
no more than crouch against the wall of the cliff while he scanned the
opening above him.

Presently there appeared in the opening the head of a Texan, Goat Neale,
whom Wade recognized as a member of Moran's crew and a man of some note
as a gunfighter.

"How," drawled the Texan, by way of greeting. "Feelin' pretty good?"
When the ranchman did not reply, his inquisitor seemed amused. "A funny
thing like this here always makes me laff," he remarked. "It sure does
me a heap of good to see you all corraled like a fly in a bottle. Mebbe
you'd take satisfaction in knowin' that it was me brung you down out
yonder in the timber. I was sure mighty glad to take a wallop at you,
after the way you all done us up that night at the ranch."

"So I'm indebted to you for this, eh?" Wade spoke casually, as though
the matter were a trifling thing. He was wondering if he could bribe
Neale to set him free. Unfortunately he had no cash about him, and he
concluded that the Texan would not think promises worth while under the
circumstances.

"Sure. I reckon you'd like to see the boss? Well, he's comin' right on
over. Just now he's eatin' a mess o' bacon and beans and cawfee, over to
the camp. My Gawd, that's good cawfee, too. Like to have some, eh?" But
Wade refused to play Tantalus to the lure of this temptation and kept
silent. "Here he comes now."

"Is he all right?" Wade heard Moran ask, as Neale backed away from the
rim of the hole.

"Yep," the Texan answered.

The ranchman instinctively braced himself to meet whatever might befall.
It was quite possible, he knew, that Moran had spared him in the
timber-belt to torture him here; he did not know whether to expect a
bullet or a tongue lashing, but he was resolved to meet his fate
courageously and, as far as was humanly possible, stoically. To his
surprise, th