sped back to his cabin, to
telephone to the nearest station, passing the word. Then with axe and
shovel, he began his slow way toward the beacon.

Bud Lee, from the mountain-top where he and Burkitt had taken Hampton,
saw it. Lee judged roughly that it was separated from him by four or
five miles of broken country, impassable to a man on horseback, to be
covered laboriously foot in a matter of weary hours.

Lee and Greene approached the signal smoke from different quarters.
Lee from the west, Greene from the northeast. They fought their way on
toward it with far different emotions in their breasts. Greene with
the desire to do a day's work and kill a forest-fire in its beginning.
Lee with the passionate hope of finding Judith. Lee reached his
journey's end first.

As he came pantingly up the last climb he discharged his rifle again
and again, to tell her that he was coming, to put hope into her. And,
because he was a lover and a lover must be filled with dread when she
is out of his sight, he felt a growing anxiety. She had lighted the
fire last night; what might have happened to her since then? Had she
been wandering, lost all these days? If nothing else, then had she
waited here half the night and in the end had she gone on plunging deep
into some canon hidden to him? Would he find her well? Would he find
her at all?

Suddenly he called out, shouting mightily, and began running, though
the way was steep. He had seen Judith, he had found her. She was
standing among the scattered boulders, her back to a great rock. She
was waving to him. Her lips were moving, though he could not see that
yet, could not hear her tremulous:

"Oh, thank God, thank God!"

"Judith," he called, "Judith!"

Now, near enough to see her distinctly, he saw that her face was white,
that the hand she held out was shaking, that her clothes were torn,
that she looked pitifully in need of him. But at last, when he stood
at her side, one of the old rare smiles came into Judith's tired eyes,
her lips curved, and she said quietly:

"Good morning, Bud Lee. You were very good--to come to me."

"Oh, Judith," he cried sharply. But no other word came to his lips
then. The brave little smile had gone, the whiteness of her face smote
him to the heart. And now she was shaking from head to foot, and he
knew why she had not stepped out to meet him, why she had kept her back
to the rock. He thought that she was going to fall, he saw t