“I don’t fear that so much, as that they may encamp near us, and make an attack in the morning.”
“We must move off as soon as it is daylight,” said Edwin, “and get all the start we can before they discover us.”
Edwin and Jim finally lay down in their blankets and went to sleep, while George maintained watch. He was too nervous and troubled to feel any desire for slumber, and too anxious to get out of this dangerous neighborhood to allow any advantage to escape him.
More than once, through the lonely hours of the night he was sure he heard whisperings and footsteps, and as often he raised the hammer of his rifle, and endeavored to pierce the Cimmerian gloom. The faint neigh of one of the animals sent a thrill of apprehension through him, and he was certain the outlaws were among them, but nothing further was heard, and, at the first streak of light, he aroused his friends, and told them they must start at once.
Their preparations required but a few moments, when they resumed their march. They found that the face of the country materially changed as they advanced, and they made much more rapid progress than they had dared to hope.
They were constantly looking back, and once Jim’s keen eyes were positive that he detected a number of men on a distant eminence, evidently watching them; but nothing more was seen of their enemies, and when they encamped at night, they were confident that none but the All-seeing Eye observed them.
CHAPTER XV.
It was toward the close of a warm summer day, that our friends drew rein in a grove within sight of the residence of Mr. Underwood, in precisely the same spot that they had encamped a number of weeks before.