He had but one hope in life now, and that was for the arrival of the young hunter from Nevada.
Twenty had changed to fifteen and fifteen to ten, but there was no news of the absentee.

One by one the numbers dwindled down, and still there came no sign of him.

Whenever a horseman clattered down the road, or a driver shouted at his team, the old farmer hurried to the gate thinking that help had arrived at last.

At last, when he saw five give way to four and that again to three, he lost heart, and abandoned all hope of escape.

Single-handed, and with his limited knowledge of the mountains which surrounded the settlement, he knew that he was powerless.