y thereof," he added, as
he led her through the narrow pass, "but within are tall trees and
running water, and the eagle nests undisturbed among the crags."

"What _are_ you quoting?" exclaimed Miss Lucy, and for an answer Rufus
beckoned her in and pointed with his hand. Before them stood the tall
trees with running water at their feet, and a great nest of sticks
among the crags.

"Hidden Water!" he said, and smiled again mysteriously.

Then he led the way along the side of the stream, which slipped softly
over the water-worn bowlders, dimpling in pool after pool, until at
the very gate of the valley it sank into the sand and was lost. Higher
and higher mounted the path; and then, at the foot of a smooth ledge
which rose like a bulwark across the gorge, it ended suddenly by the
side of a cattle-tracked pool.

"This is the wall to my garden," said Hardy, pointing to the huge
granite dyke, "beyond which only the elect may pass." He paused, and
glanced over at her quizzically. "The path was not made for ladies, I
am afraid," he added, pointing to a series of foot holes which ran up
the face of the ledge. "Do you think you can climb it?"

Lucy Ware studied his face for a moment; then, turning to the Indian
stairway, she measured it with a practised eye.

"You go up first," she suggested, and when he had scaled the slippery
height and turned he found her close behind, following carefully in
his steps.

"Well, you _are_ a climber!" he cried admiringly. "Here, give me your
hand." And when he had helped her up he still held it--or perhaps she
clung to his.

Before them lay a little glade, shut in by painted rocks, upon whose
black sides were engraved many curious pictures, the mystic symbols of
the Indians; and as they stood gazing at it an eagle with pointed
wings wheeled slowly above them, gazing with clear eyes down into the
sunlit vale. From her round nest in the crotch of a sycamore a great
horned owl plunged out at their approach and glided noiselessly away;
and in the stillness the zooning of bees among the rocks came to their
ears like distant music. Beneath their feet the grass grew long and
matted, shot here and there with the blue and gold of flowers, like
the rich meadows of the East; and clustering along the hillsides,
great bunches of grama grass waved their plumes proudly, the last
remnant of all that world of feed which had clothed the land like a
garment before the days of the sheep. For here, at leas