my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.'"

Somehow she felt less lonely afterward. God was on her side. He would
send her father or Jack Roberts.

Then, into her newborn calm, there came a far cry of agony that
shattered it instantly. Her taut nerves gave way like a broken
bow-string. Her light body began to shake. She leaned against the cold
rock wall in hysterical collapse.

The voice of Dinsmore boomed along the passageway. "It's a cougar, girl.
They've got a yell like the scream of lost souls. I've often heard it
here."

Ramona knew he was lying, but the sound of his cheerful voice was
something. She was not utterly alone.

Again that shriek lifted into the night and echoed up the canon. The
girl covered her ears with her hands and trembled violently. A shot rang
out from the other end of the passage.

"Saw one of 'em movin' down below," the outlaw called to her.

But Ramona did not hear him. She had fainted.

CHAPTER XLI

HOMING HEARTS

Jack crept closer, very carefully. He was morally certain that the
defenders held the ledge, but it would not do to make a mistake. Lives
were at stake--one life much more precious than his own.

He drew his revolver and snaked forward. There was nothing else to do
but take a chance. But he meant at least to minimize it, and certainly
not to let himself be captured alive.

It was strange that nobody yet had challenged him. He was close enough
now to peer into the darkness of the tunnel between the boulders and the
wall. There seemed to be no one on guard.

He crept forward to the last boulder, and his boot pressed against
something soft lying on the ground. It moved. A white, startled face was
lifted to his--a face that held only the darkness of despair.

He knelt, put down his revolver, and slipped an arm around the warm
young body.

"Thank God!" he cried softly. He was trembling in every limb. Tears
filled his voice. And over and over again he murmured, "Thank God!...
Thank God!"

The despair in the white face slowly dissolved. He read there doubt, a
growing certainty, and then a swift, soft radiance of joy and tears.

"I prayed for you, and you've come. God sent you to me. Oh, Jack, at
last!"

Her arms crept round his neck. He held her close and kissed the sweet
lips salt with tears of happiness.

He was ashamed of himself. Not since he had been a little boy had he
cried till now. His life had made for stoicism. But tears fur