appeared and began collecting a bundle of mesquite
sticks. Gale hastily put together the things he needed; and, packing
them all in a tarpaulin, he turned to retrace his steps up the trail.

Darkness was setting in. The trail was narrow, exceedingly steep, and
in some places fronted on precipices. Gale's burden was not very
heavy, but its bulk made it unwieldy, and it was always overbalancing
him or knocking against the wall side of the trail. Gale found it
necessary to wait for Yaqui to take the lead. The Indian's eyes must
have seen as well at night as by day. Gale toiled upward, shouldering,
swinging, dragging the big pack; and, though the ascent of the slope
was not really long, it seemed endless. At last they reached a level,
and were soon on the spot with Mercedes and the injured men.

Gale then set to work. Yaqui's part was to keep the fire blazing and
the water hot, Mercedes's to help Gale in what way she could. Gale
found Ladd had many wounds, yet not one of them was directly in a vital
place. Evidently, the ranger had almost bled to death. He remained
unconscious through Gale's operations. According to Jim Lash, Ladd had
one chance in a hundred, but Gale considered it one in a thousand.
Having done all that was possible for the ranger, Gale slipped blankets
under and around him, and then turned his attention to Lash.

Jim came out of his stupor. A mushrooming bullet had torn a great hole
in his leg. Gale, upon examination, could not be sure the bones had
been missed, but there was no bad break. The application of hot salt
water made Jim groan. When he had been bandaged and laid beside Ladd,
Gale went on to the cavalryman. Thorne was very weak and scarcely
conscious. A furrow had been plowed through his scalp down to the
bone. When it had been dressed, Mercedes collapsed. Gale laid her
with the three in a row and covered them with blankets and the
tarpaulin.

Then Yaqui submitted to examination. A bullet had gone through the
Indian's shoulder. To Gale it appeared serious. Yaqui said it was a
flea bite. But he allowed Gale to bandage it, and obeyed when he was
told to lie quiet in his blanket beside the fire.

Gale stood guard. He seemed still calm, and wondered at what he
considered a strange absence of poignant feeling. If he had felt
weariness it was now gone. He coaxed the fire with as little wood as
would keep it burning; he sat beside it; he walked to and fro close by;
sometime