r guide went forward
to reconnoitre. A cliff overhung this platform. I remembered that too;
for during the absence of the guide, Seguin and I had dismounted and
climbed it. It commanded a view of the whole outside country to the
south and west. No doubt, then, on that very cliff would the videttes
be stationed.

Would they be on its top? If so, it might be best to make a dash, and
pass them before they could descend to the road, running the risk of
their missiles, their arrows and lances. Make a dash! No; that would
be impossible. I remembered that the path at both ends of the platform
narrowed to a width of only a few feet, with the cliff rising above it
and the canon yawning below. It was, in fact, only a ledge of the
precipice, along which it was dangerous to pass even at a walk.
Moreover, I had re-shod my horse at the mission. The iron was worn
smooth; and I knew that the rock was as slippery as glass.

All these thoughts passed through my mind as I neared the summit of the
sierra. The prospect was appalling. The peril before me was extreme,
and under other circumstances I would have hesitated to encounter it.
But I knew that that which threatened from behind was not less
desperate. There was no alternative; and with only half-formed
resolutions as to how I should act, I pushed forward.

I rode with caution, directing my horse as well as I could upon the
softer parts of the trail, so that his hoof-strokes might not be heard.
At every turn I halted, and scanned the profile of each new prospect;
but I did not halt longer than I could help. I knew that I had no time
to waste.

The road ascended through a thin wood of cedars and dwarf pinons. It
would zigzag up the face of the mountain. Near the crest of the sierra
it turned sharply to the right, and trended in to the brow of the canon.
There the ledge already mentioned became the path, and the road
followed its narrow terrace along the very face of the precipice.

On reaching this point I caught view of the cliff where I expected to
see the vidette. I had guessed correctly--he was there, and, to my
agreeable surprise, there was only one: a single savage.

He was seated upon the very topmost rock of the sierra, and his large
brown body was distinctly visible, outlined against the pale blue sky.
He was not more than three hundred yards from me, and about a third of
that distance above the level of the ledge along which I had to pass.

I halted th