h his face not far from the bolster. Not
a sound, except the flapping and creaking of the tent, was heard for
some time, till Jacob, feigning to be asleep, began to breathe hard, and
then to snore louder and louder. Suddenly he was aware that the canvas
was lifted slowly a few feet from where he was stretched along. He
continued, however, still to breathe hard, as one in a deep sleep.
Another moment, and a man was stealthily raising himself to his knees
inside the tent. Then the intruder raised his arm. Jacob, concealed by
a fold of the tent, could just make out that the man's hand grasped some
weapon. The next instant there was a plunge downward of the hand, and a
suppressed exclamation of surprise. But Jacob waited to see and hear no
more. Catching up a spade, which he knew was close by, he aimed a
furious blow at the intended assassin. He did not, however, fully reach
his mark--the blow fell partly short, yet not altogether; there was a
cry of pain and terror, and then the murderous intruder rushed from the
tent, and made his escape, before Jacob could recover his balance, which
he had lost in the violence of his stroke. And now conjecture and
suspicion were changed to certainty. He could not doubt whose was the
voice that uttered that cry; it was too hateful to him ever to be
forgotten; he was now sure that his surmises were true, and that the man
whom he had twice seen so near him was the same who had just been
attempting his life, and was none other than Juniper Graves. He must
have blackened his hair and cultivated a moustache, which would account
for Jacob's being puzzled to identify him. As soon as he could recover
from his surprise, Jacob armed himself with a revolver, and cautiously
examined the ground outside his tent, thinking that perhaps his enemy
might be lurking about, or might have been disabled by the blow of his
spade.

"I'm certain I marked the villain," he said to himself. "I'm sure, by
the way he hollered out, he's got summat with him as he'll remember me
by." But all was still, except the howling of the wind and the
pattering and splashing of the driving rain. Then he made his way to
the large tent which the brothers, his companions, all occupied in
common. He told his story, which, of course, excited both the sympathy
and indignation of his hearers. But what was to be done?

"No use looking for him to-night," said one; "he's bolted off far enough
by this time, you may depend o