Page:Randall Parrish - The Red Mist.djvu/319

 Rh suddenly to another point of compass, and the trees so obstructed the bank that I led the way down into the water. It must have been a mile above this point—a mile of hard, slow travel, the water to my knees, and the rocks below treacherous—when I ventured to climb the bank, and seek a suitable spot for our day camp. A safer place surely could not have been found. We were in a narrow defile, scarcely fifty feet across, and guarded on either side by high rock walls, precipitous, and exhibiting no sign of a trail. The woods were open, yet sufficiently thick to yield good cover from observation from above, and there was sufficient grass for the horses. I picketed these close to the stream, and spread blankets for the lady to lie on at the foot of the bluff, where she would be well screened by a thicket of underbrush. Then I came back to where she sat silently against the bole of a large tree, watching my movements.

"No doubt we are safe enough here," I said, opening the pack. "But I'll not risk a fire; you can eat, I suppose? "

"I hardly know," wearily. "Perhaps I can choke a little food down; but really I am not hungry. How far have we come?" "As a mere guess I should say nearly ten miles since leaving the cabin. By the sun it must be nine