id
contrast of colors, the gray of rocks, the yellow of sand, the brown
of distant hills, the green of vegetation, and the silver sheen of the
stream half hidden behind the fringe of cottonwoods lining its
banks. This was a sight Keith had often looked upon, but always with
appreciation, and for the moment his eyes swept across from bluff to
bluff without thought except for its wild beauty. Then he perceived
something which instantly startled him into attention--yonder, close
beside the river, just beyond that ragged bunch of cottonwoods, slender
spirals of blue smoke were visible. That would hardly be a camp of
freighters at this hour of the day, and besides, the Santa Fe trail
along here ran close in against the bluff, coming down to the river
at the ford two miles further west. No party of plainsmen would ever
venture to build a fire in so exposed a spot, and no small company would
take the chances of the trail. But surely that appeared to be the flap
of a canvas wagon top a little to the right of the smoke, yet all was
so far away he could not be certain. He stared in that direction a long
while, shading his eyes with both hands, unable to decide. There were
three or four moving black dots higher up the river, but so far away he
could not distinguish whether men or animals. Only as outlined against
the yellow sand dunes could he tell they were advancing westward toward
the ford.

Decidedly puzzled by all this, yet determined to solve the mystery and
unwilling to remain hidden there until night, Keith led his horse along
the slant of the ridge, until he attained a sharp break through the
bluff leading down into the valley. It was a rugged gash, nearly
impassable, but a half hour of toil won them the lower prairie, the
winding path preventing the slightest view of what might be meanwhile
transpiring below. Once safely out in the valley the river could no
longer be seen, while barely a hundred yards away, winding along like
a great serpent, ran the deeply rutted trail to Santa Fe. In neither
direction appeared any sign of human life. As near as he could determine
from those distant cottonwoods outlined against the sky, for the smoke
spirals were too thin by then to be observed, the spot sought must be
considerably to the right of where he had emerged. With this idea in
mind he advanced cautiously, his every sense alert, searching anxiously
for fresh signs of passage or evidence of a wagon train having deserted
the bea