drew it back and forth, a stroke at a time. His heart was beating like a
steam drill; he swallowed his sobbing breath. Every instant he expected
to hear Natalie scream from within.

He severed the last thread at last; and put up his knife. He parted the
flaps; and listened for sounds from within in an agony of indecision. He
could not tell if she slept or was awake; he dared not so much as
whisper her name; and if he touched her and she slept, how could she
help but awake with a cry!

But she was not asleep; and she had all her wits about her. Close to his
ear, a voice soft as a zephyr in the grass whispered his name. A
trembling breath of relief escaped his lips; and instantly an arm was
wreathed about his neck; and a soft cheek pressed against his rough
one. He caught her to him; her slim frame quivered through and through.
It was his own Natalie; the feel of her! the fragrance of her! Life
holds but one such moment.

"I knew you'd come! I knew you'd come!" she breathed in his ear.

Her terrible agitation was the means of calming his own. He had to be
cool for both. He pressed her close to him, stroking her hair.

"Brave, _brave_ Natalie!" he whispered. "Not a sound, till we are
clear!"

He gave her a moment to recover herself, letting his encircling arms
speak the comfort and cheer he could not utter. Little by little the
piteous trembling subsided and the rigid form relaxed.

"Ready, now?" he whispered.

She eagerly nodded.

"I lead the way," he breathed in her ear; "and you keep close at my
heels. Take it easy. It must be hands and knees, and an inch at a time."

Natalie pressed his hand to her lips.

He crawled through the hole, and waited for her outside. She made no
sound. He touched her reassuringly; and realized with a pang how she was
handicapped, with one arm in a sling. They crept back around the foot of
the piled rocks, dragging themselves with tense muscles, a foot at a
time and waiting long between. By the touch of her hand on his foot he
knew she followed close. Looking over his shoulder, he sensed the
huddled figure still motionless on the wall.

He could not have told what gave the alarm. They had reached the
rivulet, when suddenly Mary leaped off the wall with a cry that brought
the two men tumbling out of the tepee.

Garth, springing to his feet, seized Natalie's hand, and pulled her
after him.

"Come on!" he whispered cheerily. "We're safe now!"

They scrambled up over the ston