“And at night?”

“We must work some scheme to get horses, and depart before those others reach here.  There will be plenty of time between dark and ten o’clock.  If we leave this man securely bound, his plight will not even be discovered until Lacy arrives.  By that time, with any good fortune, we will be beyond pursuit, lost in the desert.  Do you think of anything better?”

That he did not was evidenced by the vacant look in his eyes, and she waited for no answer.

“Here,” she said, thrusting the revolver into his hand, “take this, and guard Mendez until I return.  It will only be a moment.  Don’t take your eyes off him; there must be no alarm.”

She moved forward through the gloomy shadows toward the light showing at the mouth of the cave.  The rocks here were in their natural state, exactly as left by the forces which had originally disrupted them, the cavern’s mouth much wider than the tunnel piercing the hill, and somewhat obstructed by ridges of stone.

Sheltered by these Stella crept to the very edge of the opening, and was able to gain a comprehensive view of the entire scene beyond.  Within the cave itself there was no movement, no evidence of life.  Quite clearly no guard had been posted here, and no precautions taken, although doubtless the only entrance to the deep valley was carefully watched.

A glance without convinced her that no other guardianship was necessary to assure safety.  The valley lay before her, almost a level plain, except for the stream winding through its centre, and all about, unbroken and precipitous, arose the rampart of rocks, which seemed unscalable.

She rested there long enough to trace this barrier inch by inch in its complete circle, but found no opening, no cleft, promising a possible exit, except where the trail led up almost directly opposite, and only memory of her descent enabled her to recognise this.  Satisfied that the top could be attained in no other way, her eyes sought the things of more immediate interest.  The two cabins were directly before the entrance, the smaller closely in against the cliff, the larger slightly advanced.  Neither exhibited any sign of life; indeed the only evidence that the valley contained human occupants was the distant view of two herders, busily engaged in rounding up a bunch of cattle on the opposite bank of the stream.  These were too far away, and too intently engaged at their task, to observe any movement at this distance.

Her study of the situation concentrated on the small cabin immediately in front.  It was low, a scant story in height, but slightly elevated from the ground, leaving a vacant space beneath.  It was built of logs, well mortised together, and plastered between with clay.  The roof sloped barely enough to shed water, and there were no windows on the end toward the cliff, or along the one side which she could see from where she lay.  The single door must open