But his skin was cool. The heat came from an inward burning.
He stopped the horse and raised the coat up, and helped Mercedes
put it on.
"I should have thought of you," he said. "But I seemed to feel
warm . . . The coat's a little large; we might wrap it round you
twice."
Mercedes smiled and lightly thanked him in Spanish. The flash
of mood was in direct contrast to the appealing, passionate,
and tragic states in which he had successively viewed her; and
it gave him a vivid impression of what vivacity and charm she might
possess under happy conditions. He was about to start when he
observed that Ladd had halted and was peering ahead in evident
caution. Mercedes' horse began to stamp impatiently, raised his
ears and head, and acted as if he was about to neigh.
A warning "hist!" from Ladd bade Dick to put a quieting hand on
the horse. Lash came noiselessly forward to join his companion.
The two then listened and watched.
An uneasy yet thrilling stir ran through Gale's veins. This scene
was not fancy. These men of the ranges had heard or seen or
scented danger. It was all real, as tangible and sure as the
touch of Mercedes's hand upon his arm. Probably for her the
night had terrors beyond Gale's power to comprehend. He looked
down into the desert, and would have felt no surprise at anything hidden
away among the bristling cactus, the dark, winding arroyos, the shadowed
rocks with their moonlit tips, the ragged plain leading to the black
bold mountains.
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