The last
object that he saw was the Panther standing on the crest of the swell
just beyond them, rifle on shoulder, watching the moonlit plains. Obed
White was asleep already.
The Panther walked back and forth a few times and then looked down at
his comrades in the dip. His trained eyes saw their chests rising and
falling, and he knew that they were far away in the land of Nowhere.
Then he extended his walk back and forth a little further, scanning
carefully the dusky plain.
A light wind sprang up after a while, and it brought a low but heavy and
measured tread to his ears. The Panther's first impulse was to awaken
his friends, because this might be the band of Urrea, but he hesitated a
moment, and then lay down with his ear to the earth. When he rose his
uneasiness had departed and he resumed his walk back and forth. He had
heard that tread before many times and, now that it was coming nearer,
he could not mistake it, but, as the measured beat indicated that it
would pass to one side, it bore no threat for his comrades or himself.
The Panther did not stop his walk as from a distance of a few hundred
yards he watched the great buffalo herd go by. The sound was so steady
and regular that Ned and Obed were not awakened nor were the horses
disturbed.
Pages:
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32