uctions.

"Jim, I don't know when the captain will get back or how far he's gone,
but I haven't a dread or fear of any kind now. Up there where you see
that big gray rock I've found a cave that is the most perfect defensive
position I ever saw. No bullet can reach it from any point, and on the
contrary, from the mouth of the cave, we command the whole hillside. Now
if those Apaches are bound to follow, they ought to be along here about
noon. If the captain gets here in plenty of time we'll pull out for the
Chiquito. If he doesn't I mean to move the whole outfit up to the cave.
I want you now to roll and strap all the blankets; to get the provisions
and everything of that kind in shape so that we can easily 'pack' them,
then I'm going back to the top of the rock to keep a look out. I can see
way beyond Jarvis Pass, and if the Indians are following I'll spot them
before they get within ten miles of us. See?"

Quarter of an hour later Pike was once more on the top of the rock.
First he glanced at his watch. Just nine o'clock. Then he sprawled at
full length upon the blanket he had brought with him, levelled his
glasses and, resting his elbows on the rock, gazed long and earnestly
over the winding road. Presently he sat up, whipped off the red silk
handkerchief about his neck, carefully wiped the eye and object glasses
of his binocular and his own tired old eyes and, once more prone on his
stomach, gazed again; then twisted the screw a trifle as though to get a
better focus; gazed still another time; lowered the glass; rose to his
knees, his eyes gleaming brilliantly and his teeth setting hard; once
more levelled the glass and looked with all his soul in his eyes and
then slowly let the faithful binocular fall to the blanket by his side
as he spoke aloud:

"By Jove! They're coming."

CHAPTER V.

THE PRISONER.

What Pike saw, far over on the plateau towards Jarvis Pass would perhaps
have attracted no attention from tourist or casual looker through a
field glass, but to him--an old trooper, Indian fighter and mountaineer,
it conveyed a world of meaning. Against the dark background of that
distant ridge and upon the dun-colored flat along which the road
meandered, the old corporal could just make out a number of dingy white
objects--mere specks--bobbing and twinkling in the blazing sunshine.
Nothing of the kind had been there when he looked before and he knew
only too well what it meant. Those dirty white specks