Decker heard the voice, but a moment before it reached him he had begun stealing from the stream, holding his crouching posture until beyond range of the sharpest-eyed warrior. He was within a rod or two of the horses, when called to, and vaulted instantly into the saddle.
“What is it, captain? Anything wrong?”
“The action of the animals shows that danger threatens, and in my opinion——”
“Sh?”
At the same instant the forms of two horsemen loomed to sight on the right. They came forward as silently as shadows, acting as if they saw nothing of the others, or, seeing them, counted them as naught.
“Halt!” commanded the lieutenant, “or I fire!” a proceeding which would have taken place had he not suspected the identity of the two.
“Huh! Maroz—Ceballos!” replied one of the Apaches, without checking his animal.
“They are friends,” remarked the officer; “they belong to the reservation and probably have been at the fort.”
“I know them,” remarked Freeman, “but do not include myself among their admirers.”