Page:Tomlinson--The rider of the black horse.djvu/81

Rh and he at least was not likely to have any other, unless by some chance the Thirteen might keep horses for their use near their hiding-place on the hillside. There was no way of discovering this except by waiting, and the excited young soldier had no mind for that.

Leaving Nero in the rear of a huge tree a few yards back from the path, Robert hastily ran a little farther into the woods, striving to discover if it was possible for him to gain the road in that direction and enter it at a point above that where the waiting guard might have been stationed. He soon came to the border of a deep ravine and saw that his progress was checked in that direction. He recalled the fact also that by the side of the road below a broad, swift stream of water was flowing, and he was by no means confident that he could safely cross it. He might be taken while he was striving to cross, and the venture was too perilous to be seriously considered. At the place where the path joined the road the stream had been very narrow, and a man might easily step across. If it were light now and he had time to look about, a way of escape might be discovered; but the need of haste was great, and in his excitement Robert ran swiftly back to the place where he