s might lurk behind the sharp corners of the winding
defile, and they kept vigilant eyes upon the serrated sky-line. The
savages were moving north, and so were they. It would be remarkably
good fortune if they escaped running into some wandering band, or if
some stray scout did not stumble upon their trail. So they continued
to plod on.

It was fully three o'clock when they attained to the bank of the
Powder, and crouched among the rocks to wait for the shades of night to
shroud their further advance. Murphy climbed the bluff for a wider
view, bearing Hampton's field-glasses slung across his shoulder, for
the latter would not leave him alone with the horses. He returned
finally to grunt out that there was nothing special in sight, except a
shifting of those smoke signals to points farther north. Then they lay
down again, Hampton smoking, Murphy either sleeping or pretending to
sleep. And slowly the shadows of another black night swept down and
shut them in.

It must have been two hours later when they ventured forth. Silence
and loneliness brooded everywhere, not so much as a breath of air
stirring the leaves. The unspeakable, unsolvable mystery of it all
rested like a weight on the spirits of both men. It, was a disquieting
thought that bands of savages, eager to discover and slay, were
stealing among the shadows of those trackless plains, and that they
must literally feel their uncertain way through the cordon, every sound
an alarm, every advancing step a fresh peril. They crossed the swift,
deep stream, and emerged dripping, chilled to the marrow by the icy
water. Then they swung stiffly into the wet saddles, and plunged, with
almost reckless abandon, through the darkness. Murphy continued to
lead, the light tread of his horse barely audible, Hampton pressing
closely behind, revolver in hand, the two pack-horses trailing in the
rear. Hampton had no confidence in his sullen, treacherous companion;
he looked for early trouble, yet he had little fear regarding any
attempt at escape now. Murphy was a plainsman, and would realize the
horror of being alone, unarmed, and without food on those demon-haunted
prairies. Besides, the silent man behind was astride the better animal.

Midnight, and they pulled up amid the deeper gloom of a great,
overhanging bluff, having numerous trees near its summit. There was
the glow of a distant fire upon their left, which reddened the sky, and
reflected oddly on the edge