oked keenly into the face of his
companion in the dying light.

"You are very tired," he said. "You can hardly sit up any longer."

She smiled faintly.

Her whole body was drooping with weariness and a strange sick faintness
had come upon her.

"We must stop here," he said and cast about him for a suitable spot.
"Well, this will do. Here is a dry place, the shelter of that big rock.
The rain was from the other direction, and the ground around here did
not even get sprinkled. That group of trees will do for a private room
for you. We'll soon have a fire and some supper and then you'll feel
better."

With that he stripped off his coat and, spreading it upon the ground in
the dry shelter of a great rock, lifted the drooping girl from the
saddle and laid her gently on the coat.

She closed her eyes wearily and sank back. In truth she was nearer to
fainting than she had ever been in her life, and the young man hastened
to administer a restorative which brought the colour back to her pale
cheeks.

"It is nothing," she murmured, opening her eyes and trying to smile. "I
was just tired, and my back ached with so much riding."

"Don't talk!" he said gently. "I'll give you something to hearten you up
in a minute."

He quickly gathered sticks and soon had a blazing fire not far from
where she lay, and the glow of it played over her face and her golden
hair, while he prepared a second cup of beef extract, and blessed the
fortune that had made him fill his canteen with water at the spring in
the canyon, for water might not be very near, and he felt that to have
to move the girl further along that night would be a disaster. He could
see that she was about used up. But while he was making preparations for
supper, Billy, who was hobbled but entirely able to edge about slowly,
had discovered a water-hole for himself, and settled that difficulty.
Brownleigh drew a sigh of relief, and smiled happily as he saw his
patient revive under the influence of the hot drink and a few minutes'
rest.

"I'm quite able to go on a little further," she said, sitting up with an
effort, "if you think we should go further to-night. I really don't feel
bad at all any more."

He smiled with relief.

"I'm so glad," he said; "I was afraid I had made you travel too far. No,
we'll not go further till daylight, I think. This is as good a place to
camp as any, and water not far away. You will find your boudoir just
inside that group of trees, and in