form trembling; the fingers of the man closed more tightly about her
hand. All at once the hideous uproar ceased with a final yelping of
triumph, seemingly reechoed the entire length of the chasm, in the
midst of which one single voice pleaded pitifully,--only to die away in
a shriek. The two agonized fugitives lay listening, their ears
strained to catch the slightest sound from below. The faint radiance
of a single star glimmered along the bald front of the cliff, but
Hampton, peering cautiously across the edge, could distinguish nothing.
His ears could discern evidences of movement, and he heard guttural
voices calling at a distance, but to the vision all was black. The
distance those faint sounds appeared away made his head reel, and he
shrank cowering back against the girl's body, closing his eyes and
sinking his head upon his arm.

These uncertain sounds ceased, the strained ears of the fugitives heard
the crashing of bodies through the thick shrubbery, and then even this
noise died away in the distance. Yet neither ventured to stir or
speak. It may be that the girl slept fitfully, worn out by long vigil
and intense strain; but the man proved less fortunate, his eyes staring
out continually into the black void, his thoughts upon other days long
vanished but now brought back in all their bitterness by the mere
proximity of this helpless waif who had fallen into his care. His
features were drawn and haggard when the first gray dawn found ghastly
reflection along the opposite rock summit, and with blurred eyes he
watched the faint tinge of returning light steal downward into the
canyon. At last it swept aside those lower clinging mists, as though
some invisible hand had drawn back the night curtains, and he peered
over the edge of his narrow resting-place, gazing directly down upon
the scene of massacre. With a quick gasp of unspeakable horror he
shrank so sharply back as to cause the suddenly awakened girl to start