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As Kut-le, with Rhoda in his arms, disappeared into the mesa fissure, John DeWitt threw hi before the others had ht their horses to their haunches

He was met by Alchise's rifle, with Alchise entirely hidden fro and speechless The encounter had been so sudden, so swift that they could not believe their senses Then Billy Porter uttered an oath that reverberated froet to the top!" he cried "Jack, you and DeWitt get up there! Carlos and I will hold this!"

The twothefor an ascent Neither of theh his blistered skin DeWitt's cheeks glowed feverishly For a mile up and down frole wide split which did not coround After over half an hour of frantic search, DeWitt found, nearly three ave back in a few narrow crues

"We'll have to leave the horses," he said, "and try that"

Jack nodded tensely They dismounted, pulled the reins over the horses' heads and started up the wall, John leading, carefully One bitter lesson the desert was teaching hih Rhoda's voice still rang in his ears, though the sight of the slender boyish figure struggling in Kut-le's arms still ravished his eyes, he worked carefully

The ascent was all but ies were so narrow that foothold was precarious, so far apart that only the slight backward slant of the wall ainst the cru They toiled desperately, silently After an hour of utmost effort, they reached the top, and with an exclamation of exultation started in the direction of the fissure But their exultation was short-lived The great split that stopped fifty feet from the desert floor cut thee but at no point was it to be crossed Shortly DeWitt left Jack to follow it back and he hastened to the mesa front where he made a perilous descent and returned with the horses to Porter

That gentleman forced John to eat some breakfast while Carlos rode hastily to scour the mesa front to the west Porter and the Mexican had captured two of the horses and the burro that the Indians had left The other horses had run out into the desert back to the last spring they had careat disappointment, the horses carried only blankets, and the burro was loaded with bacon and flour There were none of Rhoda's personal belongings The aniood condition, however, and the ladly