“‘Major, give me your glass, quick!’
“I handed to him the large field-glass I carried. Looking through it at the farther shore for a moment, he turned to me and cried:
“‘As God lives, the madman has crossed that water-hell!’
“‘Impossible!’ I cried. ‘A man would be dashed to pieces in five seconds!’
“‘Nevertheless it is true,’ he said. ‘Look for yourself!’
“Taking the glass, I searched the farther shore, and there, plainly to be seen, were the deeply set footprints of a man in the wet sand at the water’s edge, and higher, upon the rocks of the ravine, were the splotched and straggling lines made by the water drained from the wet clothing.
“The outlaw’s tremendous achievement, which under other circumstances would have lifted my admiration to enthusiasm, passed from my thought as I marked that his footprints were alone. No small tracks were beside his, nor were there any traces of a dragged body. Evidently in his flight from the grasp of the river Tigre had not turned to look for his pursuers, nor down the stream for the poor girl’s body, if the hand of murder had given it to the waves.
“A hush of awe and horror fell upon us, and many seconds passed before it was broken by Cady’s low, masterful voice:
“‘Pico, take two men, go down to the mouth of Alkali Wash and watch for the body. All the drift swings in there when the water is high. Ride fast and you will be in time. The Major and I will see this hunt to the end. Come, Major, we can cross two miles above here, but it will be six miles as we ride.’
“Back we went to our horses, leaving four men to care for the dead, and at last, after many slides and zigzags, reached the river at a point where the current was slow. Cady’s horse took the water by a plunge from the crumbling bank, and we followed, swimming our animals to a narrow shingle at the base of the opposite bluff. Following this stony passageway a short distance, we scaled the hill after a struggle that left a number of our horses useless, and after a brief rest fifteen of us rode on.