n which Allan was lying. He was rewarded by finding
the little slip of paper, with a few crystals of powder still
clinging to it. The coroner examined the crystals through his
magnifying-glass; then, somewhat dubiously, raised them on a
moistened finger to his tongue, and after a moment's hesitation
swallowed in an impressive, scholarly fashion.

"_Saccharum album_!" he exclaimed. "Common white sugar! Most
extraordinary!"

But Sergeant Grey was at the open window. It was only an eight-foot
drop to the soft earth, and to the policeman there was no longer any
mystery in Gardiner's disappearance. The mock suicide was a
carefully-planned ruse to be employed by Gardiner if the worst came
to the worst.

At that moment the sound of horse's hoofs was heard on the gravelly
road, and three hundred yards away Gardiner dashed through a gap in
the trees that skirted the base of the hills. He was on the
policeman's horse, and riding like wild fire.

"I want all of you men, and a horse for each," said Grey, quickly,
turning upon them like a general marshalling his officers. "There are
a dozen different trails he may fellow, and we must put a man on
each. I will give immediate pursuit, in the hope of riding him down
before he can throw us off the scent, and I will leave it to you, Mr.
Arthurs, to organize the posse and scour the whole country until he
is located."

At Grey's first words two men had rushed to the corral, and were
already saddling horses. The first and fastest was placed at the
command of the policeman, and in a minute he, too, was riding
break-neck into the hills. But the delay was enough to give Gardiner
almost a mile's lead, and the Government horse was a match for any on
the ranch.

Grey knew that the main road, if followed far enough, dwindled into a
pack trail, which in turn seemed to lose itself in the fastnesses of
the mountains, but in reality opened into a pass leading through the
range. He gave Gardiner credit for knowing as much, and concluded
that the fugitive would make a bolt straight through the mountains.
There was no time to watch for tracks; his chance to ride his man
down depended entirely upon speed. If he miscalculated, and Gardiner,
instead of making for the pass, sought refuge in the mountains, the
posse would certainly locate him or starve him into surrender. So the
officer urged his horse to the limit and galloped straight into the
mountain battlements ahead of him.

An hour's hard ri