ir he saw the crouching form of
the mad hunter!

In that moment Roderick Drew thanked God that he was not afraid.
Standing full in the glow of the fire he stretched out his arms, as he
had once before reached them out to this weird creature, and again,
softly, pleadingly, he called the name of John Ball! There came in
reply a faint, almost unheard sound from the wild man, a sound that
was repeated again and again, and which sent a thrill into the young
hunter, for it was wondrously like the name he was calling: "John
Ball! John Ball! John Ball!" And as the mad hunter repeated that sound
he advanced, foot by foot, as though creeping upon all fours, and Rod
saw then that one of his arms was stretched out to him, and that in
the extended hand was a fish.

He advanced a step, reaching out his own hands eagerly, and the wild
creature stopped, cringing as if fearing a blow.

"John Ball! John Ball!" he repeated. He thought of no other words but
those, and advanced bit by bit as he called them gently again and
again. Now he was within ten feet of the old man, now eight, presently
he was so near that he might have reached him in a single leap. Then
he stopped.

The mad hunter laid down his fish. Slowly he retreated, murmuring
incoherent sounds in his beard, then sprang to his feet and with a
wailing cry sped back toward the pool. Swiftly Rod followed. He saw
the form leap from the rocks at its edge, heard a heavy splash, and
all was still!

For many minutes Rod stood with the spray of the cataract dashing in
his face. This time the madman's plunge into the cold depths at his
feet filled him with none of the horror of that first insane leap from
the rock above. Somewhere in that pool the old man was seeking refuge!
What did it mean? His eyes scanned the thin sheet of water that
plunged down from the upper chasm. It was a dozen feet in width and
hid the black wall of rock behind it like a thick veil. What was there
just behind that falling torrent? Was it possible that in the wall
of rock behind the waterfall there was a place where John Ball found
concealment?

Rod returned to camp, convinced that he had at last guessed a solution
to the mystery. John Ball was behind the cataract! The strange
murmurings of the old man who for a few moments had crouched so
close to him still rang in his ears, and he was sure that in these
half-articulate sounds had been John Ball's own name. If there had
been a doubt in his mind before, i