tear from the
bosom of the awful swamp the secret it so jealously guarded. He slowly
surveyed its dark surface, almost inch by inch, in the hopes of
discovering the smallest indication or difference which might lead to
the desired end.

There was nothing in what he saw to guide him, nothing which offered the
least suggestion of a path. In the darkness the tall waving grass took a
nondescript hue which reached unbroken for miles around. Occasionally
the greensward seemed to ripple in the breeze, like water swayed by a
soft summer zephyr, but beyond this the outlook was uniform--darkly
mysterious--inscrutable.

His arms cramped under the pressure of the restraining bonds and he
moved uneasily. Now and again the rustling of the leaves overhead caused
him to listen keenly. Gradually his fancy became slightly distorted,
and, as time passed, the sounds which had struck so familiarly upon his
ears, and which had hitherto passed unheeded, began to get upon his
nerves.

By-and-by he found himself listening eagerly for the monotonous
repetition of the prairie scavenger's dismal howl, and as the cries
recurred they seemed to grow in power and become more plaintively
horrible. Now, too, the sighing of the breeze drew more keen attention
from the imprisoned man, and fancy magnified it into the sound of many
approaching feet. These matters were the effect of solitude. At such
times nerves play curious pranks.

In spite of his position, in spite of his anxiety of mind, the
police-officer began to grow drowsy. The long night's vigil was telling,
and nature rebelled, as she always will rebel when sleep is refused and
bodily rest is unobtainable. A man may pace his bedroom for hours with
the unmitigated pain of toothache. Even while the pain is almost
unendurable his eyes will close and he will continue his peregrinations
with tottering gait, awake, but with most of his faculties drowsily
faltering. Horrocks found his head drooping forward, and, even against
his will, his eyes would close. Time and again he pulled himself
together, only the next instant to catch himself dozing off again.

Suddenly, however, he was electrified into life. He was awake now, and
all drowsiness had vanished. A sound--distant, rumbling, but
distinct--had fallen upon his, for the moment, dulled ears. For awhile
it likened to the far-off growl of thunder, blending with a steady rush
of wind. But it was not passing. The sound remained and grew steadily
lo