was soon lost to sight, and a few minutes later he peered
through a thin thicket which stood on the edge of the canyon wall. As
he did so the guard stuck his head out from the shelter of his bowlder
and glanced along the trail. Again seeking his cover he finished his
cigarette and lighted another.

"He won't look again for a few minutes, the fool," muttered the other
as he dropped into the road and darted across it. After a bit of cautious
climbing he gained the top of the canyon wall and again became lost to
sight.

Still the smoke ascended fitfully from behind the bowlder, and the
prowler gradually drew near it, at last gaining the side opposite the
smoker. He crouched and slowly crawled around it, his left hand holding
a Colt; his right, a lariat. As the guard again turned to examine the
lower end of the canyon his eyes looked into a steady gun, and while
his wits were rallying to his aid the rope leaped at him and neatly
dropped over his shoulders, pinning his arms to his side. It twitched and
a loop formed in it, running swiftly and almost horizontally. It whipped
over his head and tightened about his throat, while another loop sped
after it and assisted in throttling the puncher. Then the lariat twitched
and whirled and loops ran along it and fastened over the guard's wrists,
rapidly getting shorter; and when it ceased, its wielder was brought to
the side of his trussed victim. The bound man was turning purple in
the face and neck and his captor, hastily crowding the guard's own
neck-kerchief into the open, gasping mouth, released the throat clutch
of the rawhide and then securely fixed the gag into place.

Roughly dragging his captive to a mass of debris he tore it apart and
dragged and pushed the man into it, after which he pushed the rubbish
back into place and then ran to the bowlder, where he covered all tracks.
Picking up the puncher's revolver he took the cylinder from it and hurled
it far out on the plain, throwing the frame across the defile into a
tangled mass of mesquite. Looking carefully about him, to be sure he had
not overlooked anything, he disappeared in the direction from which he had
come.

He again appeared in the canyon, and ran swiftly along it until he came to
the tracks made by the guard's horse, which he followed into an arroyo
and where he found the animal hobbled. Loosening the hobbles he threw
them over the horse's neck and sprang into the saddle. He picked his
way carefully until h