"Well, just before dusk, the end came. The foremost wagon was suddenly checked by a rocky barricade, that completely filled the narrow passage. The guide had vanished. Then came the shock, as the teamsters and passengers flocked ahead to see what was wrong. "From the hillside above us came a deadly storm of rifle and pistol-bullets. On every side was death. Not a foeman was to be seen, and yet the withering storm swept man after man to death. And not alone the men. Women and children, even the toddling babes, were shot down. None were spared. In ten minutes all was over. "Taken so by surprise what could we do? Nothing. Scarcely one had a weapon at hand. Such as had, were too astounded to think of using them. And even had this been different, what could they have done when not a foeman was visible? The rocks above seemed to be raining down death upon us. Not a form could be seen; not a voice mingled with the din of fire-arms, save from the dying as they fell in heaps. My God! it was terrible!" and Guilford covered his eyes and groaned aloud as one in mental agony. "Pardon my emotion, Mr. Mitchell. Though an old soldier, never before had I witnessed such a frightful sight. My heart bleeds again at the mere thought." And Guilford shuddered again. "But you--how did you escape unhurt?" curiously asked Mitchell. "I can explain that now, though at the time I believed it a proof of Providence. But that was part of the plan. I spoke of our guide. That man was none other than the chief of the outlaws. He had joined us and acted as guide, the better to entrap us. He was a handsome, dashing fellow and it seems now that he took a sudden fancy to my daughter--curse the villain! "I was with Mabel, in the wagon, and he knew this. He pointed it out to his men, and cautioned them against injuring its inmates. With the first shot, I started to give my aid to our friends, but Mabel, half-crazed, seized me, and I dared not leave her. It would have killed her, in her weak state. "When the guide came to the wagon and ordered us to dismount, I realized the truth, and fired at him. But in my haste, the bullet that should have bored his treacherous brain, missed its mark, killing a man standing just beyond him. I was seized and bound, though I struggled desperately. Only for the guide--Yellow Jack--I would have been killed on the spot. But he had a purpose for saving me, for that time. Through her love for me, he hoped to bend my daughter to his will. "We--Mabel and I--were carried away into the mountains, and so were spared the horrible scene that must have followed. Yellow Jack told me of it, afterward. The wounded were put out of their misery, and then tossed down a deep ravine hard by, where the wolves and vultures would soon hide them from mortal sight. The wagons were burned, after being plundered, and the ashes scattered to the winds. All traces of the horrible massacre were obliterated, leaving the trap ready for other victims.