Page:RidersOfSilences - Max Brand.djvu/223

Rh "Dick, you've a heart of gold! What shall I take?" "I'll make the pack up, and I'll be back here an hour after dark and whistle. Like this—"

And he gave the call of Boone's gang.

"I understand. I'll be ready. Hurry, Dick, for we've very little time."

He hesitated, then: "All the time we're on the trail you must be far from me, and at the end of it will be Pierre le Rouge—and happiness for you. Before we start, Mary, I'd like to—"

It seemed that she read his mind, for she slipped suddenly inside his arms, kissed him, and was gone from the room. He stood a moment with a hand raised to his face.

"After all," he muttered, "that's enough to die for, and—" He threw up his long arms in a gesture of infinite resignation.

"The will of God be done!" said Wilbur, and laughed again.