THE SHADOW OF CRIME Winston could never afterward recall having heard any report, yet as he stepped across the threshold a sharp flare of red fire cleft the blackness to his left.

As though this was a signal he leaped recklessly forward, running blindly along the narrow path toward the ore-dump.

Some trick of memory led him to remember a peculiar swerve in the trail just beneath the upper rim of the canyon.

It must have been about there that he saw the flash, and he plunged over the edge, both hands outstretched in protection of his eyes from injury should he collide with any obstacle in the darkness.

The deep shadows blinded him, but there was no hesitancy, some instinct causing him to feel the urgent need of haste.