McTeague cooked his supper, chiefly coffee and bacon, and watched the twilight come on, revelling in the delicious coolness of the evening.

As he spread his blankets on the ground he resolved that hereafter he would travel only at night, laying up in the daytime in the shade of the canyons.

He was exhausted with his terrible day's march.
Never in his life had sleep seemed so sweet to him.
But suddenly he was broad awake, his jaded senses all alert.
"What was that ?" he muttered.

"I thought I heard something--saw something." He rose to his feet, reaching for the Winchester.

Desolation lay still around him.