ng of the fingers at the needles that clung to his garments.

Helen reined her pony close to the abutment of the bridge, and
dismounting, trailed the bridle on the stones. She trembled at what she
was about to do, but the spirit of atonement forced her on. Another
moment, and she was beside the limp figure, one hand resting on the
bowed shoulders.

"Elijah, listen! I have something to tell you. Listen, for you must not
miss a single word. Go back to Ysleta, go back to Amy. You are free. Mr.
Seymour--"

At the name, Elijah sprang to his feet, his hands clenched and knotted,
his eyes shining with maniacal rage.

"Curse him!" he shouted, "Curse him, curse him! Curse them all for a
pack of ravening wolves! He has done it; they have done it! The
Philistines be upon them! They be of them who would gather where I have
strewn, who would reap of the harvest I have sown. The day of wrath is
upon them, the consuming anger of a terrible God. Listen!" He seized
Helen's hand, crushing it in his fierce grasp, as he bent forward toward
the canyon of the Sangre de Cristo. His eyes were strained, his lips
parted.

Helen was half conscious of a sudden silence. The roaring waters were
stilled. She was beginning to comprehend the reason and the import of
the hushed waters. Elijah dropped the clasped hand; he stood triumphant,
his head thrown back, his eyes raised to the cloudless sky.

"It is done! 'I will tell you what I have done for my vineyard; I will
take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and I will break
down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down. And I will lay it
waste; it shall not be pruned nor digged, but there shall come up briars
and thorns. Hell hath enlarged herself and opened her mouth without
measure; and their glory and their multitude, and their pomp, and he
that rejoiceth, shall descend into it!'"

The words were chanted, rather than spoken; chanted with the resonant
triumph of him who has fought and won. He yet stood, with clenched,
outspread hands; but the color was dying from the drawn cheeks, the
fierce light fading from the gleaming eyes. Then he stood as before,
dull, listless, apathetic. The momentary fire had burned itself to
ashes.

Helen stood with every sense strained to catch the full import of
Elijah's changing moods. What was he about to do? What had he done? She
must prevent his purpose if possible, nullify it if--this was not to be
thought of now. She must read, and read