tretch of
pools and hummocks, the treacherous, uncertain ground beneath a tangle
of coarse grass. Even with fifty men it would have been an ugly search.

The marsh, like all the marshes thereabout, was intersected at
irregular intervals by decrepit lines of fence-railing, running down
from solid ground to the water's edge, half a mile away. These
divisions were necessary for various reasons. In duck season the
hunters who came up from San Francisco used them both as guides and as
property lines, each club shooting over only a given number of
sections. Between seasons the farmers kept them in repair, as a control
for the cattle that strayed into the marsh in dry weather. The distance
between these shaky barriers was some two or three hundred feet. At
their far extremity, the posts were submerged in the restless black
water of the bay.

Mary Bell caught Henderson's arm as he stood baffled and silent.

"Mr. Henderson!" she said eagerly, "don't you give in! While we're
waiting for the others we can try for the boys along the fences!
There's no danger, that way! We can go way down into the marsh, holding
on,--and keep calling!"

"That's what I say!" shrilled old Barry, fired by her tone.

The Chinese boy had already taken hold of a rail, and was warily
following it across the uneven ground.

"They've BEEN there three hours, now!" groaned Henderson; but even as
he spoke he beckoned to the two little boys. Mary Bell recognized the
two survivors.

"You keep those flames so high, rain or no rain," Henderson charged
them, "that we can see 'em from anywheres!"

A moment later the searchers plunged into the marsh, facing bravely
away from lights and voices and solid earth.

Stumbling and slipping, Mary Bell followed the fence. The rain slapped
her face, and her rubber boots dragged in the shallow water. But she
thought only of five little boys losing hope and courage somewhere in
this confusing waste, and her constant shouting was full of reassurance.

"Nobody would be scared with this fence to hang on to!" she assured
herself, "no matter how fast the tide came in!" She rested a moment on
the rail, glancing back at the distant fire, now only a dull glow, low
against the sky.

Frequently the rail was broken, and dipped treacherously for a few
feet; once it was lacking entirely, and for an awful ten feet she must
bridge the darkness without its help. She stood still, turning her
guttering lantern on waving grasses and s