an, and, urging him into the
hole, rolled the great stone into its place again. Mounting the sorrel
he rode swiftly out into the open, rounded the green point full in view
of his pursuers, and was hid from them in an instant. Then, dismounting,
he swiftly crept back through the long grass into the thicket again,
mounted the mare, and drove her at laboured gallop also around the
curve, so that it seemed to the plainsmen following that both men had
gone that way. He mounted the sorrel again, and loosing a long sash from
his waist drew it through the mare's bit. The mare, lightened of the
weight, followed well. When the plainsmen came to the cape of green,
they paused not by the secret place, for it seemed to them that two had
ridden past and not one.

The Son of Pango Dooni had drawn pursuit after himself, for it is the
law of the hills that a hillsman shall give his life or all that he has
for a brother-in-blood.

When Cumner's Son had gone a little way he understood it all! And he
would have turned back, but he knew that the hillsman had ridden far
beyond his reach. So he ran as swiftly as he could; he climbed where
it might seem not even a chamois could find a hold; his eyes scarcely
seeing the long, misty valley, where the haze lay like a vapour from
another world. There was no sound anywhere save the brawling water
or the lonely cry of the flute-bird. Here was the last refuge of the
hillsmen if they should ever be driven from the Neck of Baroob. They
could close up every entrance, and live unscathed; for here was land for
tilling, and wood, and wild fruit, and food for cattle.

Cumner's Son was supple and swift, and scarce an hour had passed ere he
came to a steep place on the other side, with rough niches cut in the
rocks, by which a strong man might lift himself up to safety. He stood a
moment and ate some coffee-beans and drank some cold water from a stream
at the foot of the crag, and then began his ascent. Once or twice he
trembled, for he was worn and tired; but he remembered the last words
of Tang-a-Dahit, and his fingers tightened their hold. At last, with a
strain and a gasp, he drew himself up, and found himself on a shelf of
rock with all the great valley spread out beneath him. A moment only he
looked, resting himself, and then he searched for a way into the hills;
for everywhere there was a close palisade of rocks and saplings. At last
he found an opening scarce bigger than might let a cat through; but