_ die!
Not while a breath remained in his body would he give in to despair.
There must be some way out. Fate would not be so cruel as to carry its
ghastly joke to the very end. He would call on all his resources. He
would struggle, fight, never give up for a moment.

His brain cleared and he took a grip on himself. The blood once more
ran hot in his veins. His youth and manhood asserted themselves in
dauntless vigor and determination.

The first thing to do was to attack the wall of fresh dirt and rock
that hemmed him in. Perhaps it was less thick than it seemed. He had
no implement to help him; but his muscular arms and powerful hands
might suffice to dig a way to freedom.

He sought to fortify himself by calling to mind all that he had ever
read about prisoners digging their way to freedom. Their cases had
seemed desperate, but often they had succeeded. He too would
succeed--he must succeed. Ruth was outside waiting for him, working
for him, praying for him.

He set to work with a dogged resolution and fierce energy that soon had
the perspiration flowing from him in streams. Behind him the dirt and
debris piled up in a rapidly growing mound. His hands and nails were
torn, but his excitement and absorption were so great that no sensation
of physical pain was conveyed to his overwrought brain.

At times he stopped to rest a moment and to listen for the stroke of
pick or shovel from the opposite side of his living grave. But no
sound came to him. He seemed to be in a soundless universe except for
the rasp of his own labored breathing.

It was after one of these intervals of listening that he was about to
resume his frenzied efforts when he thought he heard a slight sound in
the cave behind him.

His heart seemed to stand still for a moment while he strained his ears.

There was no mistake. Some living thing was in the cave besides
himself!

Instinctively, his hand gripped the butt of his revolver. Then with a
bitter smile he put it back in its place. Why should he hurt or kill
anything that was alive? Death seemed sure enough for any occupant of
that cave.

He went back stealthily until he reached the wider part of the cave,
where he had been when the shock came that had entombed him.

Again that faint sound, undeniably human, came to his ears. Pacing
cautiously in the direction from which it came, his foot struck against
something soft. He reached down and his hand came in contact with