Then he
took his rifle and skirted the rock's looming bulk, shattering the
stillness with reports that let loose a shivering flight of echoes.
All night they sat by the fire listening and waiting. As the hours
passed their alarm grew and their speculations became gloomier and more
sinister. Courant was the only one who had a plausible theory. The
moving sparks on the mountains showed that the Indians were still
following them and it was his opinion that David had strayed afar and
been caught by a foraging party. It was not a matter for desperate
alarm as the Diggers were harmless and David would no doubt escape from
them and join a later train. This view offered the only possible
explanation. It was Courant's opinion and so it carried with the other
two.
Early in the evening the girl had shown no interest. Sitting back from
the firelight, a shawl over her head, she seemed untouched by the
anxiety that prompted the old man's restless rovings. As the night
deepened Daddy John had come back to Courant who was near her. He
spoke his fears low, for he did not want to worry her. Glancing to see
if she had heard him, he was struck by the brooding expression of her
face, white between the shawl folds.
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