liff. The
successful shot followed and the siege was over.

Night had now come and it was an extremely delicate task to find their
way back to the valley, but they made the trip at last without mishap.
Once again on level ground Will was forced to sit down and rest until a
sudden faintness passed. The Little Giant regarded him with sympathy.

"You had a pretty tough time, young William, thar's no denyin' that," he
said. "It's hard to be cooped up in a hole in a mountainside, with an
enemy shootin' at you an' sendin' avalanches down on you, an' you never
seein' him a-tall."

"I never saw him once until he plunged from the cliff with your bullet
through him."

"Wa'al, it's all over now, an' we'll go back to the camp. The boys had
been worryin' 'bout you some, and I concluded I'd come out an' look fur
you, an' ef it hadn't been fur my concludin' so I guess you'd been
settin' thar in that holler a month from now, an' the Indian would hev
been settin' in a holler above you. At least I hev saved you from a long
waitin' spell."

"You have," said Will with heartfelt emphasis, "and again I thank you."

"Come on, then. I kin see the fire shinin' through the trees an' Jim an'
Steve cookin' our supper."

Will hurried along, but his knees grew weak again and objects swam
before his eyes. He had not yet recovered his strength fully after
passing through the tremendous test of mental and physical endurance,
when he lay so long in that little hollow in the side of the mountain.
The Little Giant was about to thrust out a hand and help sustain him,
but he did not do so, remembering that it would hurt the lad's pride.
The gold hunter, uneducated, spending his life in the wilds, had
nevertheless a delicacy of feeling worthy of the finest flower of
civilization.

Will was near to the fire now and the pleasant aroma of broiling venison
came to him. Boyd and Brady were moving about the flames, engaged in
pleasant homely tasks, and all his strength returned. Once more his head
was steady and his muscles strong.

"I made a long stay," he called cheerfully to them, "too long, I fear,
nor do I bring a mountain sheep back with me."

The sharp eyes of the hunter and the trapper saw at once in his pallid
face and exaggerated manner that something unusual had happened, but
they pretended to take no notice.

"Did you see any sheep?" asked Boyd.

"Yes," replied the lad, "I had a splendid view of a grand ram, standing
high on a jutting s