"He couldn't stand still an' see it done."

"True for you; but, no matter how he might feel, it's his duty to think of
his mother, an' surely she would say that it was better one came home,
than for both to be killed."

"It's a mighty hard outlook," I said, with a sigh.

"You're right, an' at the same time you ain't makin' matters any better by
chewin' it over. A man don't fit himself for a fight by figgerin' out all
the possible horrors."

"An' you think we'll have a fight before this venture is ended?"

"I'll leave it to you if somethin' of the kind don't seem reasonable,"
the old man replied, grimly, and then he set about making a dinner from
the supply of provisions we had found in the ravine.

After that I made no more effort to keep up a conversation, and tried very
hard to force from my mind any speculations regarding Jacob and his
father, but with poor success. It seemed as if every subject had some
bearing upon the matter, and so disagreeable was the constant harking back
to what was beyond my control, that I really felt glad when the shadows of
night began to lengthen, for almost any kind of action was better than
remaining there in hiding, eating one's heart out.

Sergeant Corney gave no sign that he realized night had come, until I
called his attention to the fact, and then he said: