n." Groping along the side of a hill, I became
suddenly sensible of a sharp reflection, as of burnished steel.
Looking up, through half-closed eyes, two rough, but kindly faces met
my gaze.

"Are you Mr. Everts?"

"Yes. All that is left of him."

"We have come for you."

"Who sent you?"

"Judge Lawrence and other friends."

"God bless him and them and you! I am saved!" and with these words,
powerless of further effort, I fell forward into the arms of my
preservers, in a state of unconsciousness. I was saved. On the very
brink of the river which divides the known from the unknown, strong
arms snatched me from the final plunge, and kind ministrations wooed
me back to life.

[Illustration: The Rescue.]

Baronet and Prichette, my two preservers, by the usual appliances,
soon restored me to consciousness, made a camp upon the spot, and
while one went to Fort Ellis, a distance of seventy miles, to return
with remedies to restore digestion and an ambulance to convey me to
that post, the other sat by my side, and with all the care, sympathy,
and solicitude of a brother, ministered to my frequent necessities. In
two days I was sufficiently recovered in strength to be moved twenty
miles down the trail to the cabin of some miners who were prospecting
in that vicinity. From these men I received every possible attention
which their humane and generous natures could devise. A good bed was
provided, game was killed to make broth, and the best stores of their
larder placed at my command. For four days, at a time when every day's
labor was invaluable in their pursuit, they abandoned their work to
aid in my restoration. Owing to the protracted inaction of the system,
and the long period which must transpire before Prichette's return
with remedies, my friends had serious doubts of my recovery.

The night after my arrival at the cabin, while suffering the most
excruciating agony, and thinking that I had only been saved to die
among friends, a loud knock was heard at the cabin door. An old man in
mountain costume entered--a hunter, whose life was spent among the
mountains. He was on his way to find a brother. He, listened to the
story of my sufferings, and tears rapidly coursed each other down his
rough, weather-beaten face. But when he was told of my present
necessity, brightening in a moment, he exclaimed:

"Why, Lord bless you, if that is all, I have the very remedy you need.
In two hours' time all shall be well with you."