Page:Randall Parrish - The Red Mist.djvu/290

 272 that upper country was occasionally patrolled by troops, and the guerrillas would be less aggressive in consequence. It would be comparatively easy to avoid the soldiers, for we would not attempt to travel by daylight.

The water began to shallow, and we drew in under the shadows of the wooded bank. It was so dark I could discover no break in the forest growth, and was obliged to dismount, and wade about on foot before I could locate the narrow path that led up out of the water. This mounted steeply, a mere gash cut through the tangled undergrowth, compelling us to advance in single file, I ahead leading my horse. The passage was so narrow and rough that caution was impossible in that darkness; we must venture, and trust to luck. So we pushed our way through to the top of the rise, and came suddenly to an open space, where a dozen acres had been cleared, the stumps of trees still standing in a field of weeds. I would have plunged straight ahead had not Noreen halted me with a low cry of warning while we were yet hidden within the wood shadow.

"There is a man over yonder," she said in a breathless whisper. "Ay, more—see! They come toward us."

I was not sure I saw, yet I backed the horses into the thicket, and stood at their heads, gripping their