we ever do that?"

Hamlin bent forward on his knees, striving with keen eyes, sharpened by
his night's experience, to learn more of what lay before them. The
movement, slight as it was, served to frighten her, and she grasped him
by the sleeve.

"Do not leave me; do not go away," she implored swiftly. "Whatever you
say is best, I will do."




CHAPTER IX

ACROSS THE RIVER

He dropped his hand upon hers, clasping the clinging fingers tightly.

"Yes, we can make it," he answered confidently. "Wait until I make
sure what is out there."

He had slight recollection of the stream at this point, although he had
crossed it often enough at the known fords, both above and below. Yet
these crossings had always been accomplished with a horse under him,
and a knowledge of where the trail ran. But he knew the stream, its
peculiarities and dangers. It was not the volume of water, nor its
depth he feared, for wide as it appeared stretching from bank to bank,
he realized its shallow sluggishness. The peril lay in quicksand, or
the plunging into some unseen hole, where the sudden swirl of water