“And you’ll leave him to the wolves, eh?” said Bob, with a grin.
“I shouldn’t wonder,” replied Murdock, dryly.
“But the report of the rifle—if it should be heard at the station—”
“A hunter after game, that’s all,” said Murdock. “But come, let’s tree our game; I’ve an idea that there’ll be a love-scene between the two up the ravine, and I’d like to be a looker on.” Murdock ground his teeth at the very thought.
So, cautiously and slowly, the three left the little trail by the banks of the Kanawha, and followed in the footsteps of Virginia and Winthrop up the ravine.
The girl and the young man reached the spot where the encounter with the bear had taken place, and there they halted.
The quick eye of the girl caught sight of the drops of blood dried upon the rock, where the bear had fallen and died.
“See,” she said, pointing to the spots upon the rock; “but for you my blood would have stained the stone instead of the brute’s.”
“And but for that strange girl who came so aptly to my rescue, my blood might have been there, too,” said Winthrop.
“It was a moment of terrible peril,” and Virginia half-shuddered at the bare remembrance.