Hampton could not remember when he had ever performed such an act before, nor could he have explained why he did so then, yet he prayed--prayed for the far-off Naida, and for personal guidance in the stern work lying before him.

And when he rose to his feet and groped his way to the horses, there remained no spirit of vengeance in his heart, no hatred, merely a cool resolve to succeed in his strange quest.

So, the two animals trailing cautiously behind, he felt his slow way on foot down the steep bluff, into the denser blackness of the valley..