e saddles were left
where they were, and the horses allowed to graze and wander at will.
Canteens were filled, a small bag of food was packed, and blankets made
into a bundle. Then Yaqui faced the steep ascent of the lava slope.

The trail he followed led up on the right side of the fissure, opposite
to the one he had come down. It was a steep climb, and encumbered as
the men were they made but slow progress. Mercedes had to be lifted up
smooth steps and across crevices. They passed places where the rims of
the fissure were but a few yards apart. At length the rims widened out
and the red, smoky crater yawned beneath. Yaqui left the trail and
began clambering down over the rough and twisted convolutions of lava
which formed the rim. Sometimes he hung sheer over the precipice. It
was with extreme difficulty that the party followed him. Mercedes had
to be held on narrow, foot-wide ledges. The choya was there to hinder
passage. Finally the Indian halted upon a narrow bench of flat, smooth
lava, and his followers worked with exceeding care and effort down to
his position.

At the back of this bench, between bunches of choya, was a niche, a
shallow cave with floor lined apparently with mold. Ladd said the
place was a refuge which had been inhabited by mountain sheep for many
years. Yaqui spread blankets inside, left the canteen and the sack of
food, and with a gesture at once humble, yet that of a chief, he
invited Mercedes to enter. A few more gestures and fewer words
disclosed his plan. In this inaccessible nook Mercedes was to be
hidden. The men were to go around upon the opposite rim, and block the
trail leading down to the waterhole.

Gale marked the nature of this eyrie. It was the wildest and most
rugged place he had ever stepped upon. Only a sheep could have climbed
up the wall above or along the slanting shelf of lava beyond. Below
glistened a whole bank of choya, frosty in the sunlight, and it
overhung an apparently bottomless abyss.

Ladd chose the smallest gun in the party and gave it to Mercedes.

"Shore it's best to go the limit on bein' ready," he said, simply. "The
chances are you'll never need it. But if you do--"

He left off there, and his break was significant. Mercedes answered
him with a fearless and indomitable flash of eyes. Thorne was the only
one who showed any shaken nerve. His leave-taking of his wife was
affecting and hurried. Then he and the rangers carefully stepped i