"Wolf Ear has hurried back to tell the rest that he has seen us, and they will be here in a few minutes," was the belief that lent wings to his speed.
It was a comparatively short ride to where his friends awaited him. A minute sufficed for them to learn the alarming tidings.
"It won't do to delay another second; come on!"
The next moment the two horses followed the youth out of the gully upon the plain.
"Can you stand it, father?" he asked, holding his pony back and looking inquiringly at him.
"Yes, my son; don't think of me," was the brave response, as the parent struck his animal into a gallop.
The mother was a capital horsewoman, and little Edith, who was now fully awake, once more accommodated herself to her position, so as to save all embarrassment so far as she was concerned.
Child-like, she wanted to ask innumerable questions, but she was intelligent enough to understand that silence was expected of her, and she held her peace, wondering, perplexed, and frightened.
The wintry afternoon was wearing to a close. The sky maintained its heavy leaden hue, the wind blew fitfully and was of piercing keenness, and the occasional snow-flakes, whirling about the heads of the fugitives, were more like hailstones than the soft downy particles which had appeared earlier in the afternoon. The view was shortened in the gathering gloom, and the anxious eyes glancing around the different points of the compass, and especially to the rear, failed to reveal the dreaded horsemen from whom they were fleeing.
The hope of the little party lay in keeping beyond sight of their enemies until night. With no moon and stars to guide them, the hostiles could not keep their trail, which our friends were sure to make as winding as possible.