able as I am," she
returned stiffly.

"I expect yuh are," he said meaningly. "But I ain't takin' any chances."
With a wave of his hand he indicated a steepish knoll that rose up on
their left. "I'm goin' up there to look around an' see what the country
looks like ahead," he explained. "I'll take both cayuses along, jest in
case yuh should take the notion to go for a little canter. Sabe?"

Without a word she slipped out of the saddle and, moving to one side,
listlessly watched him gather up the reins of her horse and ride toward
the foot of the hill. Its lower levels sloped easily, and in spite of the
handicap of the led horse, who pulled back and seemed reluctant to follow,
Lynch took it with scarcely a pause.

There came a point, however, about half way to the summit, from which he
would have to proceed on foot. Lynch dismounted briskly enough and tied
both horses to a low bush. Then, instead of starting directly on the
brief upward climb, he turned and glanced back to where Mary stood.

That glance, indicating doubt and suspicion, set the girl suddenly to
wondering. Ever so little her slim figure straightened, losing its
discouraged droop. Was it possible? He seemed to think so, or why had he
looked back so searchingly? Guardedly her glance swept to right and left.
A hundred feet or so to the south a spur of the little hill thrust out,
hiding what lay beyond. If she could reach it, might there not possibly be
some spot in all that jumble of rocks and gullies where she at least might
hide?

Filled with a new wild hope; realizing that nothing she might do could
make her situation worse, Mary's eyes returned to the climbing man, and
she watched him narrowly. Little by little, when his back was toward her,
she edged toward the spur. She told herself that when he reached the top
she would make a dash, but in the end her tense, raw nerves played her
false. Quivering with eagerness, she held herself together until he was
within twenty feet or more of the summit, and then her self-control
snapped abruptly.

She had covered scarcely a dozen yards over the rough ground when a hoarse
shout of surprise came from Lynch, followed by the clatter of rolling
stones as he plunged back down the hill. But she did not turn her head;
there was no time or need. Running as she had never run before, she
rounded the spur and with a gasp of dismay saw that the cliffs curved back
abruptly, forming an intervening open space that seemed to e