e, but I will try."

"Bravo!" said Mr John. "Mayne, you're like Pat with the fiddle. He
said he would try if he could play."

"Are you willing to try?" said Mr Raydon.

"With Dean, sir?"

"No; alone. I cannot spare two."

"Yes," I said, eagerly; "I'll go."

"I do not see what harm could befall you," said Mr Raydon, musingly.
"The direction is well marked, and the trees are blazed through the bit
of forest. Any beasts you came near would skurry off. Yes; I think I
will let you go. By the way, you may as well take your rifle and
pistol."

"Yes," I said, feeling quite excited over my mission. "Have you
anything for me to take to the men?"

"No; it is only a visit to an outpost, to let them see that they are not
forgotten, and to ask them if they have seen the enemy, or want
anything. But perhaps you had better go by the valley; it is surer."

"I should like to try the near way, sir," I said.

He gazed at me thoughtfully for a few moments.

"Well," he said, to my great satisfaction, "you shall try it. You ought
to know every trail round. Go and make a hearty meal before you start,
and then you need not take any provisions, for you can easily be back
before dark. Which way shall you go at first?"

"Up through the pines at the back," I said.

"No. Go down the valley to where that rounded rock stands up like a
dome, and climb up at once, keeping to the left. Then go right over the
side of the valley, and make straight for the big pine-forest you will
see across the open, striking for the tallest pine at the edge. That
tree is blazed with a white patch cut out by an axe. The trees right
through are blazed, and from one you can see the next, and from that the
next, so that you cannot go wrong."

"I see," I said; "I see."

Then he went on and told me what to do when I got through the dense
forest--this being a narrow corner which ran out into the open lands,
and on the other side went right off into the wilds, where it was
impenetrable. He roughly sketched out points, buttresses, and ravines,
which were to serve me as landmarks to make for; and then I was to go to
right or left, as the case might be; and one way and another, he marked
down for me a series of prominences to make for, so as to gain one and
then see another from it, till I reached to where I could look down into
Golden Valley, as I called it now, right above Gunson's claim.

He made me repeat my instructions, impressing upon me th