her breast--crying out to them to hurry, _hurry_--stood Peggy
Blackton. The strength of five men was in every pair of arms. Huge boulders
were rolled back. Men pawed earth and shale with their naked hands.
Rock-hammers fell with blows that would have cracked the heart of a granite
obelisk. Half an hour--three quarters--and Blackton came back to where
Peggy was standing, his face black and grimed, his arms red-seared where
the edges of the rocks had caught them, his eyes shining.

"We're almost there, Peggy," he panted. "Another five minutes and----"

A shout interrupted him. A cloud of dust rolled out of the mouth of the
tunnel, and into that dust rushed half a dozen men led by old Donald.
Before the dust had settled they began to reappear, and with a shrill
scream Peggy Blackton darted forward and flung her arms about the
gold-shrouded figure of Joanne, swaying and laughing and sobbing in the
sunshine. And old Donald, clasping his great arms about Aldous, cried
brokenly:

"Oh, Johnny, Johnny--something told me to foller ye--an' I was just in
time--just in time to see you go into the coyote!"

"God bless you, Mac!" said Aldous, and then Paul Blackton was wringing his
hands; and one after another the others shook his hand, but Peggy Blackton
was crying like a baby as she hugged Joanne in her arms.

"MacDonald came just in time," explained Blackton a moment later; and he
tried to speak steadily, and tried to smile. "Ten minutes more, and----"

He was white.

"Now that it has turned out like this I thank God that it happened, Paul,"
said Aldous, for the engineer's ears alone. "We thought we were facing
death, and so--I told her. And in there, on our knees, we pledged ourselves
man and wife. I want the minister--as quick as you can get him, Blackton.
Don't say anything to Joanne, but bring him to the house right away, will
you?"

"Within half an hour," replied Blackton. "There comes Tony with the
buckboard. We'll hustle up to the house and I'll have the preacher there in
a jiffy."

As they went to the wagon, Aldous looked about for MacDonald. He had
disappeared. Requesting Gregg to hunt him up and send him to the bungalow,
he climbed into the back seat, with Joanne between him and Peggy. Her
little hand lay in his. Her fingers clung to him. But her hair hid her
face, and on the other side of her Peggy Blackton was laughing and talking
and crying by turns.

As they entered the bungalow, Aldous whispered to Joanne: