s he stood over the five sleepers, wondering if two of them, at
least, would ever awaken.

Time had passed swiftly, but as the necessity for immediate action had
gone by, the hours gradually assumed something of their normal length.
The night wore on. The air grew colder, the stars brighter, the sky
bluer, and, if such could be possible, the silence more intense. The
fire burned out, and for lack of wood could not be rekindled. Gale
patrolled his short beat, becoming colder and damper as dawn
approached. The darkness grew so dense that he could not see the pale
faces of the sleepers. He dreaded the gray dawn and the light. Slowly
the heavy black belt close to the lava changed to a pale gloom, then to
gray, and after that morning came quickly.

The hour had come for Dick Gale to face his great problem. It was
natural that he hung back a little at first; natural that when he went
forward to look at the quiet sleepers he did so with a grim and stern
force urging him. Yaqui stirred, roused, yawned, got up; and, though
he did not smile at Gale, a light shone swiftly across his dark face.
His shoulder drooped and appeared stiff, otherwise he was himself.
Mercedes lay in deep slumber. Thorne had a high fever, and was
beginning to show signs of restlessness. Ladd seemed just barely
alive. Jim Lash slept as if he was not much the worse for his wound.

Gale rose from his examination with a sharp breaking of his cold mood.
While there was life in Thorne and Ladd there was hope for them. Then
he faced his problem, and his decision was instant.

He awoke Mercedes. How wondering, wistful, beautiful was that first
opening flash of her eyes! Then the dark, troubled thought came.
Swiftly she sat up.

"Mercedes--come. Are you all right? Laddy is alive Thorne's not--not
so bad. But we've got a job on our hands! You must help me."

She bent over Thorne and laid her hands on his hot face. Then she
rose--a woman such as he had imagined she might be in an hour of trial.

Gale took up Ladd as carefully and gently as possible.

"Mercedes, bring what you can carry and follow me," he said. Then,
motioning for Yaqui to remain there, he turned down the slope with Ladd
in his arms.

Neither pausing nor making a misstep nor conscious of great effort,
Gale carried the wounded man down into the arroyo. Mercedes kept at
his heels, light, supple, lithe as a panther. He left her with Ladd
and went back. When he had started