He protested hotly. Desiring only to be convinced, 'Lindy took one last
precaution.

"Swear you'll do right by me always."

He swore it.

She put her hand in his and he led her to the boat.

Ranse Roush was at the oars. Before he had taken a dozen strokes a wave
of terror swept over her. She was leaving behind forever that quiet,
sunny cove where she had been brought up. The girl began to shiver
against the arm of her lover. She heard again the sound of his low,
triumphant laughter.

It was too late to turn back now. No hysterical request to be put back on
her side of the river would move these men. Instinctively she knew that.
From to-night she was to be a Roush.

They found horses tied to saplings in a small cove close to the river.
The party mounted and rode into the hills. Except for the ring of the
horses' hoofs there was no sound for miles. 'Lindy was the first to
speak.

"Ain't this Quicksand Creek?" she asked of her lover as they forded a
stream.

He nodded. "The sands are right below us--not more'n seven or eight steps
down here Cal Henson was sucked under."