Both the cowboys, Dick had observed, wore
leather chaps. It was no easy matter to lead a spirited horse
through the dark, winding lanes walled by thorns. Mercedes horse
often balked and had to be coaxed and carefully guided. Dick
concluded that Ladd was making a wide detour. The position of
certain stars grown familiar during the march veered round from
one side to another. Dick saw that the travel was fast, but by
no means noiseless. The pack animals at times crashed and ripped
through the narrow places. It seemed to Gale that any one within
a mile could have heard these sounds. From the tops of knolls or
ridges he looked back, trying to locate the mesas where the light
had danced and the dog had barked alarm. He could not distinguish
these two rocky eminences from among many rising in the background.
Presently Ladd let out into a wider lane that appeared to run
straight. The cowboy mounted his horse, and this fact convinced
Gale that they had circled back to the road. The march proceeded
then once more at a good, steady, silent walk. When Dick consulted
his watch he was amazed to see that the hour was till early. How
much had happened in little time! He now began to be aware that
the night was growing colder; and, strange to him, he felt something
damp that in a country he knew he would have recognized as dew.
He had not been aware there was dew on the desert. The wind blew
stronger, the stars shone whiter, the sky grew darker, and the moon
climbed toward the zenith.
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