ould go beyond those
treacherous rocks and bushes?

CHAPTER XI

In such a country as that, full of sudden changes from mountain and
table-land to valleys and plains, pretty large bodies of men might have
been quite near each other without knowing it. Unless, indeed, they
should send out sharp-eyed scouts to find out about their neighbors, as
did the miners under Captain Skinner, and the Lipans of To-la-go-to-de.

Neither of these "main bodies" remained in camp an hour longer than was
necessary, but even after they left their respective camps they moved
onward with some caution, half expecting at any moment to see one of
their scouts come riding back with important news.

The white men had heavy wagons to prevent them from moving rapidly, but
their road toward the "western gap," and even through it, would be
almost a straight line compared to the long, rugged, round-about pass
over which Murray and Steve Harrison had followed the trail of the
Apaches.

"Motion" was decidedly the order of the day, even for the Apaches. To
be sure, there had been no known reason why they should bestir
themselves so early in the morning; but their chief himself had given
orders the night before, right after supper, that no more lodges should
be set up, and that all things should be in condition for a march.

He needed yet to make up his mind precisely in what direction the march
should be, and Rita's "talking leaves" had not given him a single hint
about that.

The fact that they had not was a trouble to him, but it was a little
too much to expect of a chief and warrior that he should seem to go for
counsel to a mere squaw, and a very young one--a squaw of the
pale-faces at that. So Rita and Ni-ha-be had not been molested in
their lodge all the evening, and a grand talk they had of it all by
themselves, with Mother Dolores to listen.

Dolores had listened, but the girls had been surprised by the fact that
she asked almost no questions at all--not even about the cavalry
pictures.

She did not explain to them that her mind was all the while too
completely filled with the thought of the one picture which had spoken
to her, and made her shut her eyes and kneel down. There could not
possibly be any other which could do more than that, although it was a
great thing that Many Bears should have given them any attention.

Ni-ha-be had slept as soundly as usual that night, and Rita had "made
believe" do so, until her adopted si