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gray She saw only a horse and rider riding froh, heard only

the rapid hoofbeats All there was of her was one dumb prayer for the

rider's safety Her reat distance to the

road, but her heart cried out that it was so far away,--so far away! When

the wood thinned, and they saw before them the dusty strip, pallid and

lonely beneath the storrew

sick for fear that he had gone by When they stood, ankle-deep in the

dust, she looked first toward the north, and then to the south Nothing

moved; all was barren, hushed, and lonely

"How can we kno can we know?" she cried, and wrung her hands

MacLean's keen eyes were busily searching for any sign that a horseman had

lately passed that way At a little distance above them a shallow streahlander hastened,

looked with attention at the road-bed where it eed from the water,

then came back to Audrey with a satisfied air "There are no hoof-prints,"

he said "No marks upon the dust None can have passed for some hours"