Page:Edward Ellis--Alden the Pony Express Rider.djvu/189

 which towered on their left. He recognized the signal and answered. The next minute Shagbark emerged from the gloom, made a few inquiries and waited until the change of the watchers took place. Then he lay down in his blanket and slept until daylight. He had not said a word about what had taken place while he was away, nor did he refer to it afterward. Alden Payne and his friends, however, noticed one peculiar fact: the hunter brought back another pipe with him. It was very different in structure from his former briarwood, being made of a species of clay baked red, and had a long reed for the stem. This he shortened to five or six inches and it served quite well as a substitute for the one destroyed. Alden was tempted to question him as to the means by which he procured it, but he had too much respect for the moods of the man to ask him any questions.

The long journey through the wild mountainous regions was so free from real danger that it gave some of the company an undue sense of security. They advanced with much caution and were well guarded day and night. They believed the red men as they peered out from their hiding places were afraid to