the barrel of the windlass. Pete had already dragged Lennon to the
opening and heaved him up on the barricade. When the rope loop came up
to the crane, he jerked it in, made fast to Lennon, and shoved him off
into space.

Lennon plunged down nearly a dozen feet before the tautened rope stopped
his fall with a violent jerk. He hung dangling, with nothing between him
and the wreckage-strewn ledges of the cliff foot, thirty feet beneath.

The first jerk had started his body to gyrating. The rapidity with which
he was lowered increased the movement. By the time he reached the cliff
foot he was spinning like a roast before an old-time fireplace.

At first he had been able to make out Carmena standing in the midst of a
close group of Apaches. But she and the Indians and the cliff wall had
all merged into a blurred whirl before his dizzy eyes by the time he
struck the cliff foot. With the slackening of the rope he rolled over,
too giddy even to attempt to steady himself with his bound hands.

While his eyes were yet too dazed for clear vision, he heard Carmena's
voice, low-pitched and vibrant with passionate pleading:

"... And him too, Cochise. I'm not asking you to give up your fun with
him. Only wait till you've made sure of Slade. There's not a second to
lose. You have us. We can't get away. But if you don't do what I ask,
you won't get Slade. He'll be up there--safe--with your woman! And his
Navahos will trap you here in the Hole."

"You lie!" grunted the young Apache. "Slade send you down to git his
noose on me. I haul up pony lift--hit out Hell Canon--take you and white
fool. Heap fun with you and him!"

"What then?" queried Carmena. "You know you'll have Slade on your
trail--Slade and a posse and the soldiers. Slade will have to wipe you
out to cover up what we've been doing here. He'll lay it all on you and
your bunch--all the stealing. Can't you see? If he can't wipe you out
himself, he'll set the soldiers on your trail."

Lennon looked up and saw before his clearing eyes the dark evilly
handsome face of the Apache leader. It was as stolid as the faces of his
incomprehending followers. But his black eyes were fierce with hate.

"You lie!" he repeated. "You say, kill Slade. You say you no care what
become of you."

"Because I know you, Cochise," cajoled the girl, her voice soft and
confiding. "Weren't we friends before Slade came? Weren't we good to
you? Remember how we kept you hid in the Hole and never tol