quarter of an hour, and was rapidly approaching the entrance of the
gorge, when he suddenly caught sight of a moving object ahead, winding
its way among a number of masses of granite outcrop; and urging his
exhausted mule to a final effort, Escombe presently had the satisfaction
of identifying the moving object as a man--a white man--attired in a few
tattered remnants of what had once been civilised clothing. That the
man was Butler there could be no shadow of doubt, and a few strides
farther enabled Harry to recognise him. As he did so, the stumbling,
staggering figure paused for a moment, glanced behind him, and saw that
he was pursued; whereupon he flung his arms above his head, emitted a
most horrible, eldritch scream, started to run forward again, staggered
a few paces, and fell forward prone upon the ground, where he lay
motionless.

CHAPTER SEVEN.

THE JEWEL.

Reining up his mule, Escombe at once glanced behind him to ascertain
whether Arima happened to be within sight. Yes, there he was, about a
mile distant, pushing along at a trot and winding hither and thither, as
he persistently followed the erratic twistings and turnings of the
pursued man's spoor. Harry therefore drew his revolver from his belt,
and, pointing the muzzle of the weapon upward, discharged two shots in
rapid succession to attract the Indian's attention, and then waved his
white pocket handkerchief in the air as a sign that the lost man had
been found, and that the pursuit was at an end. The Indian immediately
uttered a peculiar shrill whoop by way of reply, and turned his beast's
head directly toward the spot where the young Englishman could be seen
sitting motionless in his saddle; whereupon Harry at once sprang to the
ground and, throwing his mule's bridle upon the grass--a sign which the
animal had been trained to obey by standing perfectly still--rushed
toward the prostrate figure, and, turning it gently over, raised it to a
sitting posture, passing his arm round the neck as a support to the
drooping head.

Yes, the man was Butler, there could be no doubt about that; but oh!
what a dreadful change had been wrought by those few days of flight and
exposure! Butler had always been a man of somewhat spare build, but now
he was emaciated to an extent almost past belief--his cheeks were so
hollow that it seemed as though an incautiously rough touch would cause
the protruding cheek-bones to burst through the skin; his closed eyes
w