|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 24
"You asked me just now if I had any enemies. I'll say this, Lieu--"
BANG! BANG!
Two quick shots were fired from behind Hippy and the guide. One
bullet passed between the two men, the other clipped the crown, of
Lieutenant Wingate's sombrero.
The answer came, it seemed, within a second after the two shots.
Hippy and the guide leaped to their feet, drawing their revolvers
as they did so, and emptying them into the bushes, firing low and
trying to cover all the ground where a man might be lurking.
"As you were about to say," drawled Hippy, slipping another clip
of ammunition into his revolver.
"That there is one man who might and would get me if he thought he
could get away with it. But why should he wish to shoot a woman?
Crawl out to the left and then go in and let the folks know
everything is all right now. I'm going to hang around a bit and
try to tease that cayuse into shooting at me again."
"They're at it again," complained Grace Harlowe in her tent. "Go
out, Elfreda, am see if any one is hit."
Hippy was reassuring the girls when Elfreda came out.
"Humph!" exclaimed Miss Briggs. "We surely are making a brilliant
start. I think I shall be glad to get on the desert. One can see
such a long way there. Grace is anxious to know about those shots,
so I will run in and tell her. Are you going out again, Hippy?"
"Not unless I get a word from Hi. You see I do not know where he
is, and it would not be safe for either of us were we both to be
out there without either knowing where the other is."
Ping, wide-eyed, was an eager listener to what Lieutenant Wingate
had to say, but he made no comment, and no song that fitted the
situation found expression on his lips.
An hour passed, and the guide had not returned. The girls were
getting anxious, but Hippy said that, no shots having been heard,
it was safe to assume that no one could have been hit.
No one had, and all this time Hi Lang, almost within sound of
their voices, had been lying flat on top of a rock, listening with
every faculty on the alert. For two hours the guide remained in
one position, watching, waiting and eagerly hoping.
"One shot--just one second when I can see my mark, is all I ask,"
he muttered. "I'll get that shot yet!"
A few moments later Hi crept down from his hiding place and
returned to camp, on the alert every second of the way for the
report of a revolver and the whistle of a bullet.
"This beats me," he declared in answer to Hippy's question as to
whether or not he had discovered anything. "You folks turn in,
How's Mrs. Gray?"
"Asleep," answered Miss Briggs. "I think she will be ready for a
start some time to-morrow."
The guide told Lieutenant Wingate to turn in also, saying that he
would watch the camp through the night, so the Overland Riders
went to bed for what sleep they could get, but they passed a
restless night, starting up at every sound, listening for the
report of rifle or revolver or a call for help. Nothing disturbing
occurred. Shortly after daylight, Grace got up and dressed and
went out to breathe in the invigorating, sweet mountain air. She
felt strong and able to meet whatever emergency she might be
called upon to face.
Hi Lang was nowhere in sight. Ping, who was fussing with a cook
fire preparatory to getting breakfast, shook his head when Grace
asked him where the guide was.
"No can tell," he said, caressing his injured hand.
Breakfast was served at seven o'clock, but long before that Grace
had been out looking for trail signs and finding some, though she
could not tell whether they had been left by a prowler or by one
of her own party.
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|