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It was some time before the call of a coyote close beside her penetrated Rhoda's senses At its third or fourth repetition, she sighed and opened her eyes Night had coht of the desert Her first discovery was that she was seated on a horse, held fir arm across her shoulders Next she found that her uneasy breathing was due to the cloth tied round her mouth With this came realization of her predicament and she tossed her arhtened, the horse stopped, and the voice went on repeating the coyote call, clearly,for a moment and looked at the face so close to her own In the starlight only the eyes and the dim outline of the features were visible, and the eyes were as dark and ht that shut her in
Mad with fear, Rhoda strained at the rigid ar hands, ceased his calling and waited Off to the left ca call and Kut-le started the pony rapidly toward the sound In a few moments Rhoda saw a pair of horse her fate Kut-le gave a low-voiced order One of the riders i another horse Kut-le slipped another blanket fro Rhoda to her saddle so securely that she scarcely could er Then he mounted his horse, and he and one of the Indians started off, leading Rhoda's horse between the silently behind the along his neck The Indians put the horses to a trot and iony by the rough ht was that she never would recover froht ca her It only he would free her hands for a th for that! Then she fought against her fastenings They held her all but ht back the fear panic Utterly helpless, she thought! Flying through darkness to an end worse than death! In the power of a naked savage! Her fear almost robbed her of her reason
After what seemed to her endless hours, the horses were stopped suddenly She felt her fastenings reround where she tu froth reain The two Indians stood stolidly watching her for a time, then Kut-le knelt in the sand beside her huddled form and laid his hand on her arm