As the two men dismounted hurriedly and moved towards him, he felt a premonition of something as fateful and important as then.

In obedience to a sign from Barker he led them to a more secluded angle of the veranda.

He could not help noticing that his younger partner's face was mobile as ever, but more thoughtful and older; yet his voice rang with the old freemasonry of the camp, as he said, with a laugh, "The signal has been given, and it's boot and saddle and away." "But I have had no dispatch from Stacy," said Demorest in surprise.

"He was to telegraph to me from San Francisco in any emergency." "He never got there at all," said Barker.

"Jack ran slap into Van Loo at the Divide, and sent a dispatch to Jim, which stopped him halfway until Jack could reach him, which he nearly broke his neck to do; and then Jack finished up by bringing a message from Stacy to us that we should all meet together on the slope of Heavy Tree, near the Bar.