of one of the extra rifles and belts and silently
joined his comrades. Together they noiselessly stole into the brush.

Ellen had no other thought than to comply with Colter's wishes. There
was her wounded uncle who had been left unattended, and she was anxious
to get back to him. Besides, if she had wanted to run off from Colter,
where could she go? Alone in the woods, she would get lost and die of
starvation. Her lot must be cast with the Jorth faction until the end.
That did not seem far away.

Her strained attention and suspense made the moments fly. By and by
several shots pealed out far across the side canyon on her right, and
they were answered by reports sounding closer to her. The fight was on
again. But these shots were not repeated. The flies buzzed, the hot
sun beat down and sloped to the west, the soft, warm breeze stirred the
aspens, the ravens croaked, the red squirrels and blue jays chattered.

Suddenly a quick, short, yelp electrified Ellen, brought her upright
with sharp, listening rigidity. Surely it was not a wolf and hardly
could it be a coyote. Again she heard it. The yelp of a sheep dog!
She had heard that' often enough to know. And she rose to change her
position so she could command a view of the rocky bluff above.
Presently she espied what really appeared to be a big timber wolf. But
another yelp satisfied her that it really was a dog. She watched him.
Soon it became evident that he wanted to get down over the bluff. He
ran to and fro, and then out of sight. In a few moments his yelp
sounded from lower down, at the base of the bluff, and it was now the
cry of an intelligent dog that was trying to call some one to his aid.
Ellen grew convinced that the dog was near where Colter had said Bill
Isbel had plunged over the declivity. Would the dog yelp that way if
the man was dead? Ellen thought not.

No one came, and the continuous yelping of the dog got on Ellen's
nerves. It was a call for help. And finally she surrendered to it.
Since her natural terror when Colter's horse was shot from under her
and she had been dragged away, she had not recovered from fear of the
Isbels. But calm consideration now convinced her that she could hardly
be in a worse plight in their hands than if she remained in Colter's.
So she started out to find the dog.

The wooded bench was level for a few hundred yards, and then it began
to heave in rugged, rocky bulges up toward the Rim. It did not a