ng and at the
spot where Cole Campbell's road turned in; and then he swung off up
Woodpecker Canyon to where the Stinging Lizard Mine had been located.

Great timbers still lay where they had been dumped from the trucks,
there was a concrete foundation for the engine; and a double-compartment
shaft, sunk on the salted vein, showed what great expectations had been
blasted. With the Willie Meena still sinking on high-grade ore, Judson
Eells had taken a good deal for granted when he had set out to develop
the Stinging Lizard. He had squared out his shaft and sunk on the vein
only as far as the muckers could throw out the waste; and then, instead
of installing a windlass or a whim, he had decided upon a gallows-frame
and hoist. But to bring in his machinery he must first have a road, for
the trail was all but impassable; and so, without sinking, he had
blasted his way up the canyon, only to find his efforts wasted. The ore
had been dug out before his engine was installed, thus saving him even
greater loss; but every dollar that he had put into the work had been
absolutely thrown away. Wunpost camped there and gloated and then,
shortly after midnight, he set off with his tongue in his cheek.

The time had now come when he was to match wits with Lynch in the old
game of follow-my-leader and, even with the Indian to do Lynch's
tracking, he had no fears for the outcome. There were places on those
peaks where a man could travel for miles without placing his foot on
soft ground, and other places in Death Valley where he could travel in
sand that was so powdery it would bog a butterfly. First the high
places, to wear them out and make Pisen-face Lynch get quarrelsome; and
then the desolate Valley, with its heat and poison springs, to put the
final touch to his revenge. For it was revenge that Wunpost sought,
revenge on Pisen-face Lynch, who had driven him from two claims with a
gun; and this chase over the hills, which had started so casually, had
really been planned for months. It was part of that "system" which he
had developed so belatedly, by which his enemies were all to be
confounded; and, knowing that Lynch would follow wherever he led,
Wunpost had made his plans accordingly. He was leading the way into a
trap, long set, which was sure to enmesh its prey.

At daylight Wunpost paused in his steady, plunging climb and looked back
over the rock-slides and boulders; and while his mules munched their
grain well back out of sig