Her face darkened a little but she nodded. "If you must. You have been very kind, monsieur. You brought me here?" Her eyes fell on her leather coat flung over the end of the bunk and she flushed, looking sideways at the man. He seemed impassive, unconscious, and her puzzled gaze wandered over his face and form. She noted striking differences in the tanned, lean face and the lithe body. The skin was clear and the eyes no longer red and swollen. He stood upright and moved with a swift, deft certainty far from his former slouch. "You are changed," she commented. "Some," he answered. "Fresh air and exercise have benefited me." "That is true. Yet there seems to be another difference. You look purposeful, if I may say it." "I?" he seemed to protest. "What purpose is there for me?" "You must tell me that." He went out into the other room and returned with broth for her. But she was hungry and the broth did not satisfy her. He brought in meat and bread, and she made a fairly hearty breakfast. It pleased De Launay to see her enjoying the food frankly, bringing her nearer to the earth which he, himself, inhabited. "The only purpose I have," he said, while she ate, "is that of finding what has become of your escort. There's another matter, too, on which I am curious. Do you think you can get along all right if I leave food for you here and go down to the camp? I will be back before evening." "You will be careful of that crazy old man?" He laughed. "If I am not mistaken he thinks I am a ghost and is frightened out of seven years' growth," he said, easily. His voice changed subtly, became swiftly grim. "He may well be," he added, half to himself. Breakfast over and the camp cleared up, De Launay took from his packs a second automatic, hanging the holster, a left-hand one, to the bunk. He showed Solange how to operate the mechanism and found that she readily grasped the principle of it, though the squat, flat weapon was incongruous in her small hand. The rifle also he left within her reach. Shortly he was mounted on his way out of the crater. He made good time through the down timber and, in about an hour and a half, was headed into the canyon. He searched carefully for traces of Dave but found none. The snow was over a foot deep and had drifted much deeper in many spots. Especially on the talus slopes at the bottom of the canyon had it gathered to a depth of several feet. Finally he came to the site of the camp where he had rescued Solange from the mad prospector. Here he was surprised to find no trace of the man although the burros were scraping forlornly in the snow on the slopes trying to uncover forage. Camp equipment was scattered around, and a piece of tarpaulin covered a bundle of stuff. This was tucked away by a rock, but De Launay ran on it after some search.