“We may as well make our change of base.”
Side by side the friends rode to the left of the course they had been following, until they struck the shore of the stream already alluded to. It seemed broader and shallower than below, but it was a winding current through the sand, which licked a great deal of water. The banks were so low and flat that a slight rise of the creek would cause it to overflow on both sides. No trees or undergrowth being in the neighborhood, the same difficulty of concealment remained.
When the full moon should rise in the unclouded sky objects would be discernible for a long way in every direction. While in some respects this might not be desirable, the two looked upon it as an advantage, since by diligence and watchfulness, they ought to discover the approach of an enemy, no matter how stealthily made, or from what point it came.
It was a cause for self-gratulation that both were so well mounted that none of their enemies could overtake them in a fair contest of speed.
“It strikes me that as the moon will not show itself for nearly an hour we may as well dismount. I have been in the saddle so continuously to-day that the change will be as grateful to me as to my horse.”
“It doesn’t strike me as the wisest thing to do,” replied Freeman, “though I don’t know that it increases our danger. I will not dismount, since I have ridden less than you. You won’t leave your horse?”
“No, though he knows my call so well he would come to me at once.”
The lieutenant walked slowly with his steed along the bank of the stream, for it seemed wiser to shift their position, even if slightly, so as to prevent the guarded approach of their enemies.
“I wonder whether any of them are in the neighborhood,” he remarked, as they came to a halt again; “I don’t see how they can be, but there’s no saying what mischief they are up to. Listen!”
The two were motionless and used their eyes and ears as best they could. In the gloom it was barely possible to distinguish the opposite shore, only a few rods distant, while darkness walled them in on every hand.