quietly. "If Hallam's men are up there it will
be too late when we get through. That means tolerably bad times for
Somasco."

"I," said Seaforth, "wasn't exactly thinking about Somasco."

Alton's face was very grim. "Well," he said dryly, "it means a good
deal less to one of us than it would have done a few weeks ago."

They went back, and it was dark when they camped in the dripping
undergrowth, but while Seaforth fancied that Alton did not sleep that
night, he was the first upon his feet when they rose in the darkness of
the morning, and commenced the slow ascent. There was no man in the
party who did not feel that the journey would be useless, but they went
on nevertheless, hewing a path through thickets, crawling up steep rock
faces on hands and knees, and wading through the drifts to the waist in
melting snow. So with toil incredible they left the leagues behind,
one, and when they were fortunate, two to the day, and evening was at
hand when at last they came scrambling down from fir to fir into the
rain-swept valley. There was nothing visible beneath them but a haze
of falling water and the tops of dripping trees, but Alton stooped now
and then as though listening, and Seaforth could guess at the torments
of suspense he was enduring.

"We shall know in a few more minutes," he said. "I can see the river
now."

"Go on," said Alton hoarsely. "Oh, get on."

Five minutes had scarcely passed when they stopped again, and the men
stared at each other in silence as a thudding sound came up to them
through the rain. It was just distinguishable, and they might be
mistaken, but a full minute went by before one of them glanced at
Alton. He stood very still, with one knee bent a trifle, leaning
against a pine until the sound grew plainer and was followed by a voice.

"We're too late, but we'll go down and see it out," he said.

Ten minutes later they plodded into the glare of a fire, and stopped,
worn-out and dripping in front of a rude bark shelter. A few men were
scattered about it eating their evening meal, and for a moment or two
they stared at the newcomers silently, until Alton stepped forward and
stood where all could see him, hatless and tattered, with a clotted
bandage about his head.

"What are you doing on my claim?" he said.

A big man rose up slowly with an axe in his hand, and pointed to a
board with rough letters cut in it nailed to a tree.

"It may have been yours one time. It's ours now