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Page 20
Rifles were laid on the ground by the campfire, Hi, Hippy and
Grace having decided that the rifles would be cumbersome to carry,
and that their revolvers would be much more serviceable. After Hi
Lang had given final instructions as to how they were to operate,
the three started out and soon were out of sight of their
companions.
A new moon, fast sinking into the west, shed a faint light over
the mountains, bringing out the bare spots and deepening the
shadows cast by rocks and trees. The stalkers laid their course by
the moon so that they might keep going in one direction and not
get in each other's way, though some little distance separated
them, and only now and then did they come within speaking distance
of one another.
Not a sound did the guide make as he moved forward. Grace was
almost equally quiet in her movement, but now and then Hippy
Wingate would stumble, followed by a grunt or a growl of disgust
that might have been heard several yards away.
Hippy, being between the guide and Grace, knew that two pairs of
ears were alert for any fumbling on his part, which irritated more
than it helped him to be quiet.
Grace finally halted at the edge of an open space, faintly lighted
by the moon's rays, and waited watchfully before attempting to
cross the open spot. Crouching low, she gazed and listened, every
faculty on the alert. The Overland Rider's heart gave a jump when
she saw something move out there behind a clump of bushes.
With revolver at ready, she waited, then leveled the weapon as
something moved out from behind the bushes.
"A coyote," she whispered to herself. "He hasn't heard me."
He heard her whisper, however. The alert ears tilted forward as
the beast halted; then he bounded away and disappeared in a
twinkling.
Grace was now well satisfied that she was proceeding with
sufficient caution. If she could approach a keen-eared coyote
without disturbing it, how much easier would it be to stalk a
human being. Having decided upon this, Grace got up and stepped
into the moonlit space, feeling more confidence in herself.
She had barely reached the middle of the open space when, from the
other side, and plainly at close range, a revolver banged. She
heard the bullet, as it sped past her head too close for comfort.
Without an instant's hesitation, Grace fired two shots from her
revolver at the flash made by the other weapon, then throwing
herself on the ground, wriggled away into a shadow and lay flat on
the ground, screened by the short shrubbery and the unevenness of
the ground.
Two shots were now fired from the other weapon, aimed, as nearly
as she could see, at the place where she had thrown herself down.
To the last two shots Grace made no reply. She lay waiting, hoping
that the person who had fired them, would come out and show
himself.
This he was too wary to do, and finally, becoming impatient, she
groped for a stone, and, finding a small piece of rock, flipped it
into the air, so that it might fall some little distance from her,
hoping thereby to draw the other's fire.
Still there was no response from her adversary.
"He must have slipped away, and here I have been waiting all this
time, afraid of what proves to be nothing. I'm going to start on,"
decided the Overland girl.
Instead of getting up where she was, Grace crawled further to the
right for some little distance, until she was in a heavier shadow.
There she arose cautiously, weapon at ready, prepared to see a
flash and hear the report of a weapon.
Not a sound nor a movement followed her revealing herself. Grace
now pushed on with still greater caution than before, but rather
more rapidly, believing that her companions by this time had
gained a considerable lead over her.
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