was thousands of dollars. He had taken that which the doctor
had carried, and had left the doctor to do what he could for the
sufferers, and to assist Mazie in her preparations of the great kitchens
and dining-room where thousands were to be fed.

For a long time, he thought of treachery, of dark perils, reaching a
bloody hand out of the dark. But presently a new and soothing sensation
came to him. He dreamed of other days. He was once more on the long
journey north, the one he had taken the year previous. Cio-Cio-San was
sleeping near him. They were on a great white expanse, alone. There was no
peril; all was peace.

So great was the illusion that he scratched a match and gazed at the
sleeping face near him.

He gave a little start at the revelation it brought. Certainly, there was
a striking resemblance here to the face of Cio-Cio-San. Yet, he told
himself, it could not be. This person was a man. And, besides, Cio-Cio-San
was now rich. She was in her own country living in luxury and comfort, a
lady bountiful among her own people.

He told himself all this, and yet so much of the illusion remained that he
fell asleep and slept soundly until the rattle of harness and the shout of
horsemen told him that morning was upon them and they must be off.

He looked for his companion. He was gone. When Johnny had dressed, he
found the interpreter busily assisting with the morning repast.

"Just like Cio-Cio-San," he muttered to himself, as he dipped his hands
into icy water for a morning splash.

* * * * *

After his escape from the two Bolsheviki in the machine shed, Pant sat by
the entrance to his mine in breathless expectancy. The two Russians
certainly had not seen him enter the mine, but others might have done so,
and, more than that, there was grave danger that they would track him to
his place of hiding.

He was not surprised when his alert ear caught a sound from without, close
at hand. He only crowded a little further back into the corner, that the
light from the broken-in entrance, providing it was discovered and
crushed, should not fall upon him.

His heart thumped loudly. His hand gripped his automatic. He expected
immediate action from without. His hopes of reaching the mother-lode of
this mine vanished. He thought now only of escape.

But action was delayed. Now and then there came sounds as of footsteps and
now a scratching noise reached his ear. The crust of