g
upon him. For a moment he seemed to quiver and tremble in every limb,
then with sudden effort raised his head and turned again, the blood
trickling anew from a gash in his face as he did so.

"Give me more of that," he moaned, stretching forth a trembling hand.
"More water, too. Lend me a horse and your carbine. I must go! I
_must_ go!" But there his strength failed him, and grasping wildly at
empty air, poor Harvey fell heavily back before the sergeant could
interpose an arm to save.

"Don't think of it, sir; you're far too weak, and you're not needed.
Never fear, the lieutenant and 'C' troop will do all that men can do.
They'll bring the ladies safely back as soon as they've hung what's
left of that murdering gang.--Hello! That you, Fox?" he shouted,
springing up as two or three horsemen came spurring in.

"It's I,--Wing," was the answer in ringing tones. "Fox is coming
slower. Quick now. Is it so that that gang has run off the young
ladies?"

"It's God's truth. Here's Mr. Ned Harvey himself."

In an instant Wing was kneeling by the side of the prostrate man.

"Merciful heaven, my friend, but they've used you fearfully! They only
bound and held me till Jackson got back from Ceralvo's a couple of
hours ago. Are you shot,--injured?"

"No, no," groaned Harvey. "But I am broken, utterly broken, and my
sisters are in the hands of those hounds."

"Never worry about that, man. I know young Drummond well. There isn't
a braver, better officer in the old regiment if he is but a boy. He'll
never drop that trail till he overtakes them, and by the time he needs
us, old Pike here and I will be at his side. Thank the Lord, those
louts were frightened off and never took our horses. They're fresh as
daisies both of 'em. Cheer up, Mr. Harvey. If hard riding and hard
fighting will do it, we'll have your sisters here to nurse you before
another night.--Come, Pike," he cried, as he vaulted into saddle. "Now
for the liveliest gallop of your lazy, good-for-nothing life. Come
on!"

VII.

A new May morning was breaking, its faint rosy light warming the
crests of the Santa Maria, when Lieutenant Drummond signalled "halt"
to his little band, the first halt since leaving Moreno's at half-past
two. Down in a rocky canon a number of hoof-prints on the trail
diverged to the left and followed an abrupt descent, while the wagons
had kept to the right, and by a winding and more gradual road seemed
to have sought a crossing fart