"You have a safe hiding place here in the mountains?" asked Rutlidge.
"Yes; a little hut, hidden in a deep gorge, over on the Cold Water. I
could live there a year if I had supplies."
James Rutlidge considered. "I've got it!" he said at last. "Listen! There
must be some peak, at the Cold Water end of this range, from which you can
see Fairlands as well as the Galena Valley."
"Yes," the other answered eagerly.
"And," continued Rutlidge, "there is a good 'auto' road up the Galena
Valley. One could get, I should think, to a point within--say nine hours
of your camp. Do you know anything about the heliograph?"
"Yes," said the man, his face brightening. "That is, I understand the
general principle--that it's a method of signaling by mirror flashes."
"Good! This is my plan. I will meet you to-morrow on the Laurel Creek
trail, where it turns off from the creek toward San Gorgonio. You know the
spot?"
"Yes."
"We will go around the head of Clear Creek, on the divide between this
canyon and the Cold Water, to some peak in the Galenas from which we can
see Fairlands; and where, with the field-glass, we can pick out some point
at the upper end of Galena Valley, that we can both find later.
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