Part 36 (2/2)

”Everything er we'll reach the end by sundown An' what don't happen therethe trail Keep a rifle-shot behind with Joanne If there's unexpected shooting, hat you er I can see danger, if there is any, an' I can do it best alone”

Aldous knew that in these last hours Donald MacDonald's judgement which seemed to place the old hunter under a more hazardous risk than his own And he realized fully that these were the last hours For the first ti cartridges for his rifle, and he had noted how carefully he had looked at the breech of that rifle Without questioning, he had followed the es in his own pockets His 303 was freshly cleaned and oiled He had tested the mechanism of his automatic MacDonald had watched him, and both understood what such preparations meant as they set out on this last day's journey into the North They had not kept froht, and as they rode the prescribed distance behind the old hunter Aldous wondered how iven her to understand that they were beating out the rival party, but he believed that in spite of all their efforts there was in Joanne's mind a comprehension which she did not reveal in voice or look To-day she was no different than yesterday, or the day before, except that her cheeks were not so deeply flushed, and there was an uneasy questing in her eyes He believed that she sensed the nearness of tragedy, that she was conscious of what they were now trying to hide from her, and that she did not speak because she knew that he and MacDonald did not want her to know His heart throbbed with pride Her courage inspired him And he noticed that she rode closer to hih that day

Early in the afternoon MacDonald stopped on the crest of a swell in the valley and waited for the the north He did not look at them For a few moments he did not speak His hat was pulled low, and his beard itching

They looked ahead At their feet the valley broadened until it was afor the cover of a parklike clump of timber MacDonald did not seeazing at a ly mountain, perhaps three e shoulders were of alht as if smeared with oil Between those two shoulders rose a cathedral-like spire of rock and snow that seemed to tip the white fleece of the clouds

MacDonald did not turn when he spoke His voice was deep and vibrant with an intense e for that mount'in for forty years, Johnny!”

”Mac!”

Aldous leaned over and laid a hand on the old mountaineer's shoulder Still MacDonald did not look at hi to himself ”I see how I missed it now, just as DeBar said I hunted from the west, an' on that side the mount'in ain't black We must have crossed this valley an' coo, Johnny----”

He turned now, and what Joanne and Aldous saw in his face was not grief; it was not the sorrow of one drawing near to his beloved dead, but a joy that had transfigured hith of the youth in which he had first looked upon this valley with Jane at his side burned again in the sunken eyes of Donald MacDonald After forty years he had come into his own Somewhere very near was the cavern with the soft white floor of sand, and for aof MacDonald's heart, while fro breath of understanding

And MacDonald, facing the aunt arm, and said:

”We're almost there, Johnny God ha' mercy on them if they've beat us out!”

CHAPTER XXVI

They rode on into the Valley of Gold Again MacDonald took the lead, and he rode straight into the face of the black norance of what e into the chamber of his rifle, and carried the weapon across the pommel of his saddle He explained to her nohy they were riding behind--that if their ene in wait for them, MacDonald, alone, could make a swift retreat Joanne asked no questions

Her lips were set tight She was pale

At the end of three quarters of an hour it see directly into the face of a wall of rock Then he swung sharply to the left, and disappeared When they came to the point where he had turned they found that he had entered a concealed break in the mountain--a chasm alls that rose almost perpendicular for a thousand feet above their heads A dark and soleloom pervaded this chasm, and Aldous drew nearer to MacDonald, his rifle held in readiness, and his bridle-rein fastened to his saddle-horn The chasht burst upon them suddenly, and a few ain

Even Aldous could not restrain an exclamation of surprise when he rode up with Joanne Under theed ranges that ran to the southwest Up out of it there ca roar; the air was filled with that roar; the earth seemed to tremble with it under their feet--and yet it was not loud

It careat distance

And then they saw that MacDonald was not looking out over the sweep of the valley, but down Half a mile under theh it ran the silver sheen of a stream MacDonald spoke no word now He dis telescope at the little valley Aldous helped Joanne froreat breath caive the telescope to Aldous, but to Joanne She looked For a full minute she seemed scarcely to breathe Her hands trelass to Aldous

”I see--log cabins!” she whispered

MacDonald placed a detaining hand on her ar'in--Joanne,” he said in a low voice that had in it a curious quiver

Again she raised the telescope to her eyes