ot been looking so
intently into the crystal eyes, she could have seen--could have
warned. The moon now showed it to be a canoe and in the canoe a man.
The man was very lean and his uncovered head was close shaven. His
eyes were very like those in the image.

The girl shuddered.

"Deeper--deeper!" came the relentless command.

Her voice came back muffled--as though from a distance.

"It is dark--dark."

She began to gasp. Then suddenly she placed her hand to her head.

"I see no gold--I see no gold!"

Sorez sank to his knees before the girl. His face was chalk white.

"Gone? Is it gone?"

The shadow was now beside the raft. The shadow was now behind Sorez.
The shadow placed one foot upon the raft, but it paused there a moment
at the cry which brought Sorez also to attention.

"Father!" screamed the girl. "Father!"

Sorez stared straight ahead of him in a frenzy. Then the shadow
sprang, throwing his arms about the tall figure. Without a cry Sorez
sank under him. He made a brief struggle but he was too weak to
overcome the demon strength of the man who bore him down. With
remarkable dexterity, the Priest bound him hand and foot before he had
recovered fully from the shock of the fall.

The girl was now murmuring to herself, murmuring the one word
"Father." It was an appealing, frightened cry, full of doubt,
uncertainty, and yet of hungry love. For a second it held the
attention of both men, the Priest taking a step nearer the girl and
looking at her almost curiously.

Sorez knew this was the end. But he was a good gambler; having lost
all, he accepted his fate with stoicism. He kept his head clear--clear
enough to do the thing which marked him a man. He squirmed about until
he faced the girl. With every ounce of strength in him, he shouted his
final command to her.

"Awake! Awake!"

The girl stirred uneasily. The Priest reached for his knife, not
understanding.

"Awake!" repeated Sorez, and his voice quivered with the intensity of
his earnestness. "Awake!"

The girl trembled and seemed to fight her way to consciousness as one
after a deep dive struggles to the top. She gasped for breath. Her
eyes fluttered open, closed, fluttered open again. She roused herself
to a sitting posture and the image dropped from her lap. The Priest
snatched it up as the girl shrank back from him. For a moment the two
stared at each other. The Priest was held motionless. Then as Sorez
hitched a bit to one side, he turned