"And glad am I that it did present itself. O, if my poor husband had been here when they attacked him!"
"When do you expect the return of Fred?"
"Not before night, and the hands may not come with him. He does not dream of anything like this."
"Nor did we, a little while ago. Had any other refuge presented itself we would have seized it; but I never suspected we were near your home until we came over the ridge and saw it but a few rods away."
"But, where are they?" asked the wondering Jennie.
"That's something I don't understand, for they were near enough for their bullets to whistle about our ears."
"They have seen where you took shelter and are afraid to attack you."
"That may be; but why don't they show themselves?"
At this moment Capt. Asbury approached. Repeating his regrets that they should place their friends in such danger, he said:
"As there is no saying how long we shall have to stay here, we ought to learn the nature of our defences. Our horses are in the stables, where, if the rustlers choose, they can get them, and they will be pretty sure to choose to do it. They can steal to the rear of the sheds and take them out without risk. Now, Mrs. Whitney, we have enough rations with us to last, in a pinch, for three or four days; how are you fixed?"