o test the
endurance even of a man.

Laramie, moving unseen and almost unheard in the inky blackness,
piloted the nervous beast with an uncanny instinct, past the dangers on
every hand. He guided himself with his feet and by his hands, halting
on the edge of crevices and heading them with the horse at his
shoulder, feeling his way around slopes of fallen rock and clambering
across them when they could not be escaped, holding the lines at their
length ahead of the horse and speaking low and reassuringly to urge him
on: waiting sometimes for a considerable period for a flash of
lightning to give him his bearings anew.

Kate could see in each of these blinding intervals his figure. Each
flash outlined it sharply on her retina--always the same--patient,
resourceful, silent and unwearied. The man who had been directed to
ride her own horse she never caught sight of. When they reached open
country and better going her guide did not break the silence. He spoke
only when at last he stopped the horse and stood in the darkness close
to her knee:

"This brings us to the end of our trail--for awhile. We're in front of
my cabin. Of course, it's small. And I've been thinking what I ought
to say to you about things as you'll find them here. The man that rode
behind us and passed us on your horse is Abe Hawk. You know what they
call him over at your place; you know what they call me for taking his
part--you know what you called me."

She repressed an exclamation. When she tried to speak, he spoke on,
ignoring her. "Never mind," he said, in the same low, even tone that
silenced her protest, "I'm not starting any argument but it's time for
plain speaking and I'm going to tell you just what has happened
tonight, so, for once, anyway, we'll understand each other--I'm going
to show my cards.",

The chilling sheets of rain that swept their faces did not hasten his
utterance: "When you get home and tell your story, your men will know
it was Abe Hawk you ran into whether you knew it or not. They'll ask
you all about his hiding place and you'll tell them all you know--which
won't be much. I don't complain of all that--it's war; and part of the
game. All I'll ask you not to say is, that I brought Abe Hawk with you
to my cabin. Abe won't be here when they come--it isn't that. We can
take care of ourselves. I'm speaking only because I don't want my
place burned. It isn't much but I think a good deal of it. Burning it
won