Page:Edison Marshall--Shepherds of the wild.djvu/144

136 "But you won't go—in this darkness "

"I'll wait till the moon rises. Besides, I know this Smoky Land from end to end. So don't be afraid for me."

They stood silent by the leaping flame. The sheep lay quiet, the shepherd dog slept at Hugh's feet. And subtly stealing into their consciousness above the sound of the leaping flame they heard the voice of the forest, mysterious and profound,—the little sounds of the wind in the thicket, the rustling of leaves, the hushed footfall of the wild creatures. Into that darkness Alice would venture for her lost sheep. Hugh felt a strange weight of dread.

Above the far mountains the clouds gleamed with the first beams of the rising moon.