Should she brave
the nervous fright of a passage through that dark, forbidding
labyrinth of gloom when she knew that she should not find
the horses within reach beyond?
She turned to retrace her steps. She must find another way!
But was there another way? And "Tomorrow they will shoot
him!" She shuddered, bit her lower lip in an effort to command
her courage, and then, wheeling, plunged into the thicket.
Again the cat screamed--close by--but the girl never
hesitated in her advance, and a few moments later she broke
through the willows a dozen paces from the river bank. Her
eyes strained through the night; but no horses were to be
seen.
The trail, cut by the hoofs of many animals, ran deep and
straight down into the swirling water. Upon the opposite side
Brazos must be feeding or resting, just beyond reach.
Barbara dug her nails into her palms in the bitterness of her
disappointment. She followed down to the very edge of the
water. It was black and forbidding. Even in the daytime she
would not have been confident of following the ford--by
night it would be madness to attempt it.
She choked down a sob. Her shoulders drooped. Her head
bent forward. She was the picture of disappointment and
despair.
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