He had hardly taken a half-dozen steps before Murphy called after him:
"Don't--don't go an' leave me--it's not there now--thet's queer!"
The other returned and stood gazing down upon his huddled figure.
"You're a fine scout! afeard o' spooks. Do ye take these yere turns
often? Fer if ye do, I reckon as how I 'd sooner be ridin' alone."
Murphy struggled to his feet and gripped the other's arm. "Never hed
nuthin' like it--afore. But--but it was thar--all creepy--an'
green--ain't seen thet face--in fifteen year."
"What face?"
"A--a fellow I knew--once. He--he's dead."
The other grunted, disdainfully. "Bad luck ter see them sort," he
volunteered, solemnly. "Blame glad it warn't me es see it, an' I don't
know as I keer much right now 'bout keepin' company with ye fer very
long. However, I reckon if either of us calculates on doin' much
ridin' ternight, we better stop foolin' with ghosts, an' go ter
saddlin' up."
They made rapid work of it, the newcomer proving somewhat loquacious,
yet holding his voice to a judicious whisper, while Murphy relapsed
into his customary sullen silence, but continued peering about
nervously. It was he who led the way down the bank, the four horses
slowly splashing through the shallow water to the northern shore.
Before them stretched a broad plain, the surface rocky and uneven, the
northern stars obscured by ridges of higher land. Murphy promptly gave
his horse the spur, never once glancing behind, while the other
imitated his example, holding his animal well in check, being
apparently the better mounted.
They rode silently. The unshod hoofs made little noise, but a loosened
canteen tinkled on Murphy's led horse, and he halted to fix it,
uttering a curse. The way became more broken and rough as they
advanced, causing them to exercise greater caution. Murphy clung to
the hollows, apparently guided by some primitive instinct to choose the
right path, or else able, like a cat, to see the way through the gloom,
his beacon a huge rock to the northward. Silently hour after hour,
galloping, trotting, walking, according to the ground underfoot, the
two pressed grimly forward, with the unerring skill of the border, into
the untracked wilderness. Flying clouds obscured the stars, yet
through the rifts they caught fleeting glimpses sufficient to hold them
to their course. And the encroaching hills swept in closer upon either
hand, leaving them groping their way between as in a pocket, yet ever
advancing north.
Finally they attained to the steep bank of a considerable stream, found
the water of sufficient depth to compel swimming, and crept up the
opposite shore dripping and miserable, yet with ammunition dry. Murphy
stood swearing disjointedly, wiping the blood from a wound in his
forehead where the jagged edge of a rock had broken the skin, but
suddenly stopped with a quick intake of breath that left him panting.
The other man crept toward him, leading his horse.