shaking me by the shoulders. "If I had been in the way of
praying--you're the man I'd have prayed for. How did you
get here?"

"Just wandering, Mart," I answered. "But Lord! I'm
sure GLAD to see you."

"Which way did you come?" he asked, keenly. I threw
my hand toward the south.

"Not through that hollow?" he asked incredulously.

"And some hell of a place to get through," Drake broke
in. "It cost us our ponies and all my ammunition."

"Richard Drake," I said. "Son of old Alvin--you knew
him, Mart."

"Knew him well," cried Ventnor, seizing Dick's hand.
"Wanted me to go to Kamchatka to get some confounded
sort of stuff for one of his devilish experiments. Is he
well?"

"He's dead," replied Dick soberly.

"Oh!" said Ventnor. "Oh--I'm sorry. He was a great
man."

Briefly I acquainted him with my wanderings, my encounter
with Drake.