close to his head. Instantly
another shot rang out, farther down the creek, followed immediately by
a wild, piercing shriek of pain. Then all was still.

Greatly surprised and mystified, the men leaped to their feet, and
stood staring across at the opposite hill from whence the sounds had
come. But nothing could they see except the great silent wall of rock
and earth. Each man grasped his rifle in readiness for any emergency,
not knowing what to expect next.

"Who can it be?" Weston asked. "What is the meaning of that second
shot, and the scream of pain? There's something wrong over there,
that's quite evident."

"Suppose we cross over and investigate," Reynolds suggested. "It may
have been a stray shot which went through my hat. But, hello! who's
that?"

"Where?" Weston asked.

"Don't you see him?" and Reynolds pointed to his left. "Look, he is
moving along the top of the hill toward where we heard the first shot."

The form of a man could be seen, gliding swiftly and cautiously
forward, carrying a rifle. Only brief glimpses could be obtained of
him as he emerged now and then from behind rocks and clumps of stunted
trees, so it was impossible to make out whether he was a white man or
an Indian. At length he vanished entirely for several minutes, while
the curious and anxious watchers waited for him to reappear.

It seemed to them much longer than it really was before they saw him
again, and this time he was standing upon a huge rock motioning with
his arms.

"Why, it's Sconda!" Weston exclaimed in amazement. "What does he
want?" he asked, turning to Natsu, who all the time had remained
perfectly silent.

"'Come quick,' Sconda say," was the reply.

"Ask him what is the matter," Weston ordered.

This Natsu at once did, but all the answer he received was the request
to hurry.

"What ails the fellow, anyway?" Weston growled. "Why can't he tell us
what's wrong? Anyway, we might as well go and find out for ourselves,
for there is something mysterious about this whole affair. Confound it
all! I want to make a further examination of this mine and see how far
it extends. This is certainly provoking."

It did not take them long to reach the bed of the creek, although they
received a number of bruises and scratches in the swift descent. But
the climb up the opposite hill was a difficult undertaking, and by the
time they reached the top they were almost exhausted. Here they rested
a few minutes