We dug and tore, gouged and struck, digging our heels into the soft earth in a vain endeavor to gain some advantage of position.

My cheek, I knew, was bleeding from contact with a jagged stone, and I was fast growing faint from the awful tension, when I felt his arms slip.
"My God!" he panted.

"The devil has me!" So startled was I by these English words, that I loosed my grip, staring breathlessly through the darkness.
"Are you white ?" I gasped, so weakened I could scarce articulate.
For a moment he did not answer, but I could hear his breath coming in gasps and sobs.

Then he spoke slowly, his voice hoarse from exertion.
"By the memory of Moses! I was once,--but that squeeze must have turned me black, I 'm thinkin'.

An' ye're no Injun ?" "Not so much as a feather of one," I retorted.