"But he isn't letting you go, Roger. He's putting it up to you, and he means what he says when he declares he'll try to get you." "If he does, he'll probably get me," mused Rathburn. "But maybe he won't get _us_, Roger." "Us?" "You and I, Roger. Listen! There's a land 'way up north, Roger. I've read about it. It's past the desert and the mountains and the plains--in another country! And there's a river there, Roger--a river they call Peace River. I've always loved the name. We'll go there, Roger, you and I--and father can come later." She looked up at him with shining eyes and put her arms about his neck, and she saw the unbelievable wonder in his face. The man trembled. Then he took her and held her and kissed her, time after time. "Joe Price said I could never be satisfied away from the desert unless I took along something that was of it," he muttered hoarsely; "I wonder----" "Yes, Roger, he meant me." "We can't make it," he said softly. "Not the two of us--but Laura, girlie, _this_ is worth the game!" "Yes we can, Roger," she said eagerly. "Think! We can be married when we've left the desert. It's not quite ten miles to Boxall Canon. We can go up Boxall over the range and cross Death Flat." "I was thinking of that, sweetheart," he replied. "But no horse can get up Boxall, an' if he did he couldn't get across Death Flat. Few men have crossed that stretch. It's well named. I might try it alone; but you--no, Laura. It just ain't in the pictures!" "We don't need horses, Roger. You've forgotten the burros. They'll kill any horse on the desert, won't they? We can take two or three loaded with food and water." "But it's miles and miles an' then some--an' it all looks alike." "But when we've reached the other side, Roger?" He drew away from her and stepped to the door. He could not see or hear anything. When he turned and again approached her, his face was white. He looked at Mallory, who was standing with a look of stupefaction on his lined face. "Wait!" he said and stepped into another room. In a few moments he was back, holding a money belt in his hands. He took out gold and bills and deposited the money on the table. The others stared. "There's about six thousand there, Mallory. It's gamblin' money. Turn it in to the bank to make or help out Doane's shortage. I've got just twenty-five hundred left which I earned in a better way." "Daddy, get the burros!" cried the girl. "We're going!" * * * * * Sheriff Bob Long looked down from a ledge above a narrow, deep, boulder-strewn, awe-inspiring canyon and drew in his breath sharply. Below he saw two human beings and three animals. "I knew he'd try it," Long said wonderingly to himself. "I thought he'd try it afoot. But the girl! And they're going to try to cross Death Flat!" His look of wonder increased, and he made no move toward the weapons in his holsters. "I wonder now," he mused. "Can they make it? I wonder----"