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He glanced at her rifle and smiled sardonically "Don't shoot lanced at the bay "How did you knoas yours?"

"I could tell it was shod The others weren't"

"Was it the Indians? Was your horse following theave her a sour look "Yes it was Indians and he was following thehtened the cinch "Coot into the saddle Her hand touched so sticky and she lifted it to find blood Her heart skipped a beat

"Are you hurt?" she gasped anxiously

"No," he said, rubbing the blood off with a handful of sand "It's not my blood"

She could feel the blood drain frouys?"

"No, I can vouch for the fact that it was Indian blood Now shut up and let's get out of here"

He led the horse around and they left the ravine, traveling at right angles to the path the Indians had taken Apparently he wasn't going to tell her he had killed the Indian to get his horse back What a weakling he must think she was Of course, ouldn't he think so? She had done nothing but cry, coun Noith only a few hours sleep, he alking while she rode As much as she would like to have offered to hile he rode, she knew they would cover ground faster if she rode and he walked

As it turned out, it was her high perch that prevented the in a sandy ravine when she spotted a flash of color in the distance She ducked down on the horse

"Chauncey!" Her voice was barely above a whisper, but he turned "I saw so red up there in the rocks" She started to slide fro"

He lifted a canteen fro the horse along the ravine again She avoided looking in the area where she had seen the color, and tried to look undisturbed

Finally they descended into a low place in the ravine,between them and the Indians aited Bordeaux lead the horse out of the ravine and behind a slab of rock There he swung up behind her and they rode away fro would the Indians wait before they realized they had been fooled? The soft sand in the ravine would ed Bordeaux had been leading the horse along the ravine to spare its hooves, but it had been a risk that hadn't paid off