Before him, in a slight depression formed by a fault or lapse in the upheaved strata, lay the charred and incinerated remains of a dwelling-house leveled to the earth! Originally half hidden by a natural abattis of growing myrtle and ceanothus which covered this counter-scarp of rock towards the trail, it must have stood within a hundred feet of them during their halt! Even in its utter and complete obliteration by the furious furnace blast that had swept across it, there was still to be seen an unmistakable ground plan and outline of a four-roomed house.

While everything that was combustible had succumbed to that intense heat, there was still enough half-fused and warped metal, fractured iron plate, and twisted and broken bars to indicate the kitchen and tool shed.

Very little had, evidently, been taken away; the house and its contents were consumed where they stood.

With a feeling of horror and desperation Key at last ventured to disturb two or three of the blackened heaps that lay before him.

But they were only vestiges of clothing, bedding, and crockery--there was no human trace that he could detect.