“Why didn’t you awake me afore? Have you seen anything wrong?”
“I am not sure; my doubt made me hold on a little longer, but I learned nothing of account.”
“What was it anyway?”
“It is only that the animals appear to be uneasy, but it may mean nothing, or it may mean a good deal.”
“It’s more’n likely it means something. Where are they?”
“Lying down off there to the right, almost near enough to be seen.”
“They can’t be too close; wal, you can sleep and I’ll take my turn.”
Thus warned by Captain Dawson, Vose Adams assumed the duties of sentinel with his senses on the alert. He had become so accustomed to the delicate 286 duty, when aware that the slightest slip on his part meant death, that he was better fitted for the task than any member of the party, though the experience of Ruggles and the captain in the army had given them the ability to awake at any moment fixed upon before sinking into slumber, and they were sensitive to the least disturbance while enjoying refreshing rest.
Adams believed what he had remarked more than once that the little company of mountain Indians would do their utmost to revenge themselves upon the men who had taken off their chief. He suspected that the five were prowling in the neighborhood, looking for some such opportunity, and that they would strike a blow before the rising of the morrow’s sun.
Nothing was to be hoped for in the way of a diversion, created by the intrusion of Colonel Briggs and his vagrant miners. Not that the Indians were not eager to strike at any members of the hated race, but the all-controlling motive was lacking in the case of the larger party.