ingers clutched the horse's mane convulsively as the body swayed.
The moonlight fell full upon the face, glistening on the beads of
moisture which stood out on the skin.

A twinge of pity passed through Durham's heart as he watched the agony
of the stricken wretch. The effort to maintain his balance was more than
the weakened muscles could stand. A deep groan broke from his lips as
his arms gave way; his head fell and he plunged forward, slipping over
the horse's shoulder and coming head first to the ground, where he lay
in a limp, dishevelled heap.

Freed from its burden, the animal stepped forward and moved to a tree
where it had evidently been accustomed to find its feed, for it snorted
impatiently and shook itself as it sniffed round the trunk. But Durham
had no eyes for it; he was watching, with fascinated intentness, the
figure lying motionless on the ground.

Slipping from behind the sheltering shrubs, he approached the man with
noiseless steps. There was no sign of life in the figure which lay as it
had fallen, but across the lower part of the back the clothes were
stained with blood. A bullet had struck him almost on the spine, and the
dangling limbs were explained. The shot had paralysed them.

Durham stooped over him. The faintest flicker of breathing showed he was
still alive. He lay on his face, his arms out-flung, his legs twisted.
Drawing the arms together, Durham slipped a strap round them above the
elbows so as to hold them secure. Then he partly lifted him from the
ground and dragged him to the mouth of the cave, where he sat him with
his back against the rock.

The head drooped forward. In his waist-belt there was a revolver-pouch
which Durham, on removal, found to contain a revolver of heavy calibre
loaded in all chambers.

Now that he was unarmed and secured, Durham knelt beside him to try and
revive him. He gently raised the head and rested it against the stone,
holding it steady with one hand while with the other he lifted off the
false beard.

As the disguise came away and left the face fully exposed, Durham's
heart stood still. With a cry he sprang to his feet, staggering back to
stand, with clenching hands and throbbing temples, staring blankly at
the white, drawn face upturned to his.

The humming roar was again in his ears, a trembling seized his limbs,
his brain reeled and the scene spun before his eyes.

"Oh, my God!" he cried.

Slowly the eyelids lifted and a spasm of pain cont