f the
forest, until their eyes grew weary. The silence and peace that had
marked the dawn continued through all the hours of the morning. Although
the wild turkeys had flown away, the birds that lived in this forest
seemed to take no alarm. They hopped peacefully from bough to bough, and
sang their little songs as if there were no alien presence. But Ned and
Obed had been through too many dangers to be entrapped into a belief
that the Lipans had gone. They matched patience with patience. The sun
went slowly up toward the zenith, and the earth grew hot, but they were
protected from the fiery rays by the foliage of the trees. Yet Ned grew
restless. He was continually poking the muzzle of his rifle over the log
and seeking a target, although the forest revealed no human being.
Finally Obed put his hand upon his arm.

"Easy, now, easy, Ned," he said. "Don't waste your strength and nerves.
They can't charge us, at least in the daylight, without our seeing them,
and, when they come, we want to be as strong of body and brain as
possible. We won't take the fight to them. They must bring it to us."

Ned blushed. Meanwhile the afternoon dragged on, slow and silent, as the
morning had been.

CHAPTER XIII

THE TEXANS

Late in the afternoon Ned's nerves began to affect him again. Once more,
the old longing for action took such strong hold upon him that he could
not cast it off for a long time. But he hid his face from Obed. He did
not want his older comrade to see that he was white and trembling.
Finally, he took some food from his pack and bit fiercely upon it, as he
ate. It was not for the food that he cared, but it was a relief to bring
his teeth together so hard. Obed looked at him approvingly.

"You're setting a good example, Ned," he said, "and I'll follow it."

He too ate, and then took a satisfactory drink from his water bottle.
Meanwhile the sun was setting in a cloudless sky, and both noticed with
satisfaction that it would be a clear night. Eyes, trained like theirs,
could see even in the dusk an enemy trying to creep upon them.

"Do you think you could sleep a while, Ned?" said Obed, persuasively.
"Of course, I'll awake you at the first alarm, if the alarm itself
doesn't do it. Sleep knits us up for the fray, and a man always wants to
be at his best when he goes into battle."

"How could a fellow sleep now?"

"Only the brave and resolute can do it," replied Obed, cunningly.
"Napoleon slept before Aust