ow strange it was to be following thus, meekly, helplessly,
perforce with some sort of confidence, in the charge of this unknown
mountain man, to--whatsoever he might elect! The utterly absurd part
of it all was that it was pleasant!

At length they emerged from the shady halls of trees, to find
themselves confronted by the wall of mountains. Already Van was riding
up the slope, where larger pines, tall thickets of green chincopin, and
ledges of rock compelled the trail to many devious windings. Once more
the horseman was whistling his Toreador refrain. He did not look back
at his charges. That he was watching them both, from the tail of his
eye, was a fact that Beth felt--and resented.

The steepness of the trail increased. At times the meager pathway
disappeared entirely. It lay upon rocks that gave no sign of the hoofs
that had previously rung metallic clinks upon the granite. How the man
in the lead discerned it here was a matter Beth could not comprehend.
Some half-confessed meed of admiration, already astir in her nature for
the horseman and his way, increased as he breasted the ascent. How
thoroughly at home--how much a part of it all he appeared, as he rode
upon his pony!

Two hours of steady climbing, with her mare oblique beneath her weight,
and Beth felt an awe in her being. It was wonderful; it was almost
terrible, the fathomless silence, the altitudes, this heretofore
unexperienced intimacy with the mountains' very nakedness! It was
strange altogether, and impressive, the vast unfolding of the world
below, the frequency with which the pathway skirted some dark
precipice--and the apparent unconcern of the man ahead, now so
absolutely master. And still that soul-inviting exhilaration of the
air aroused those ecstacies within her spirit that she had not known
were there.

They were nearing the summit of the pass. It was still a thousand feet
below the snow. To the left a mighty chasm trenched the adamant, its
bottom lowered away to depths of mysterious blue. Its side, above
which the three stout ponies picked their way, was a jagged set of
terraces, over the brink of which the descents were perpendicular.

Rising as if to bar the way, the crowning terrace apparently ended the
trail against all further advance. Here Van finally halted,
dismounted, and waited for the advent of his charges.

Beth rode up uncertainly, her brown eyes closely scrutinizing his face.
It appeared as if they had c