ge no stone that
might betray him. Within the gorge the boom of the falls was largely
deadened by a bend in the walls above; and lighter sounds became
audible: the lapping of the river on the stones; and, as he came nearer,
someone breaking sticks for the fire below.

Between him and the fire rolled the river with a deep, swift current.
There was no more than a scant fifty yards between wall and wall of the
gorge at the bottom. Coming still closer, he saw by the light of the
fire that their camp was pitched on a triangle of flat ground, formed
where a steep watercourse had made a perpendicular fissure in the
opposite wall of the gorge. On one side of the fire was pitched a small
"outside" tent--the same tent Garth had watched so long when it stood
outside Mabyn's shack--and on the other side stood a tepee. A small
raft, half drawn out of the water, explained their means of crossing the
river.

The descending path finally landed Garth on a precipitous incline of
broken rock at the water's edge; and there, across the stream, so close
he could have tossed a pebble into their midst, sat those he had tracked
so far, all unsuspicious of his nearness. They were having their evening
meal. Natalie was among them, facing him, the firelight strong on her.
Her face was set and sad--but still unhumbled; and from this and the
obsequious poise of Grylls's head, when he turned to her, Garth knew she
was so far safe from him. His heart breathed a still hymn of thankfulness.

Grylls sat on the other side of the fire, with his back against a rock.
He still wore the bewrinkled suit of store clothes which had become so
hateful in Garth's sight; and the broad-brimmed hat was set at a rakish
angle. He was in a jovial humour, judging from the thick unction of his
speech; doubtless, though he seldom looked at her, in his own way he was
seeking to charm his cold and silent prisoner.

Mabyn's back was turned to Garth; his attitude was furtive; and
apparently he spoke little. Garth did not trouble about him; for he knew
instinctively that so long as the stronger man was by, Natalie stood in
no danger from Mabyn. Mary Co-que-wasa, serving the food, hovered behind
the fire, which threw a strange, exaggerated shadow of her hag-like form
on the cliff. Nearer Garth, at a little distance from the others, Xavier
sat on the ground, busy with his cup and plate.

Garth watched Natalie with a swelling heart. How brave she was! how
noble and befitting th