upon his brain and in the midst of the darkness even the darkness ceased but the pocket fired again and again until the revolver was empty then he tossed it from him and breathing heavily sat down on the dead man s legs the was sobbing and struggling for breath he panted a on my trail an me do the work an then me in the back he was half crying from anger and exhaustion he peered at the face of the dead man it was sprinkled with loose dirt and gravel and it was difficult to distinguish the features never laid eyes on him before the concluded his scrutiny just a common an ordinary thief damn him an he shot me in the back he shot me in the back he opened his shirt and felt himself front and back on his left side went clean through and no harm done he cried bet he aimed all right all right but he drew the gun over when he pulled i all gold the � the i but i fixed m oh i fixed m his fingers were the bullet hole in his side and a shade of regret passed over his face it s goin to be n hell he said an it s up to me to get mended an get out o here he crawled out of the hole and went down the hill to his camp half an hour later he returned leading his pack horse his open shirt disclosed the rude with which he had dressed his wound he was slow and awkward with his movements but that did not prevent his using the arm the of the pack rope under the dead man s shoulders enabled him to heave the body out of the hole then he set to work gathering up his gold he worked steadily for several hours pausing often to rest his shoulder and to exclaim he shot me in the back the he shot me in the back when his treasure was quite cleaned up and wrapped securely into a number of blanket covered he made an estimate of its value hundred pounds or i m a all gold he concluded say two hundred in an dirt � that leaves two hundred pounds of gold bill wake up two hundred pounds of gold forty thousand dollars an it s � all he scratched his head and his fingers into an they along it for several inches it was a through his where the second bullet had he walked angrily over to the dead man you would would you he you would eh well i fixed you good an plenty an i ll give you decent burial too that s more n you d have done for me he dragged the body to the edge of the hole and it in it struck the bottom with a dull crash on its side the face twisted up to the light the peered down at it an you shot me in the back he said with pick and he filled the hole then he loaded the gold on his horse it was too great a load for the animal and when he had gained his camp he transferred part of it to his saddle horse i all gold even so he was compelled to abandon a portion of his � pick and and gold pan extra food and cooking and divers odds and ends the sun was at the when the man forced the horses at the screen of vines and to climb the huge the animals were compelled to and struggle blindly through the tangled mass of vegetation once the saddle horse fell heavily and the man removed the pack to get the animal on its feet after it started on its way again the man thrust his head out from among the leaves and peered up at the the he said and disappeared there was a and tearing of vines and boughs the trees back and forth marking the passage of the animals through the midst of them there was a of steel shod hoofs on stone and now and again an oath or a sharp cry of command then the voice of the man was raised in song � tu n around an tu n yo face them sweet hills of grace d rs of sin yo am all gold look about an look fling yo sin pack on d yo will meet d lord in d the song grew faint and fainter and through the silence crept back the spirit of the place the stream once more and whispered the hum of the mountain bees rose down through the perfume air fluttered the snowy s of the the drifted in and out among the trees and over all blazed the quiet sunshine only remained the marks in the meadow and the torn to mark the boisterous trail of the life that had broken the peace of the place and passed on � w y j y right to know the girl said i her voice was firm with determination there was no hint of pleading in it yet it was the determination that is reached through a long period of pleading but in her case it had been pleading not of speech but of personality her lips had been ever mute but her face and eyes and the very attitude of her soul had been for a long time eloquent with questioning this the man had known but he had never answered and now she was demanding by the spoken word that he answer it is my right the girl repeated i know it he answered desperately and help she waited in the silence which followed her eyes fixed upon the light that down through the lofty boughs and bathed the great in mellow warmth this light subdued and colored seemed almost a from the trunks themselves so strongly 