"The same party," was his thought; "one is missing, and, if I am not mistaken, I had something to do with his disappearance."
A different noise came to his ears. One of the bucks was making his pony climb the bank where the slope was abrupt. The labour was hard, but after a strenuous effort he stood on the earth above. He was followed by the others in Indian file, the ascent taking but a few minutes.
The disturbing feature about this business was that the whole party had climbed the bank within a dozen feet of where Brinton was lying, and they halted when so near that he was half afraid some of the horses might step on him.
Had there been any light in the sky he would have felt they were trifling with him, as a cat plays with a mouse.
But, if the hostiles could not see or detect his presence, their horses were sure to discover that a stranger was near.
"It's too bad!" thought Brinton, who, believing that his own people were safe, was able to give more thought to himself; "it looks as if there's no getting rid of them. I think this is a good time for me to leave."
For a single moment he was certain he was discovered. One of the warriors uttered an exclamation, and a slight sound showed that he had dropped from his horse to the ground. The youth was on the point of rolling over the edge of the bank and taking to his heels, in the hope that the darkness would allow him to escape, when, to his dismay, a tiny point of light flashed out of the gloom.
One of the hostiles had dismounted to light a cigarette, placing himself so that his horse's body kept off the wind.
Brinton's position gave him a good view of the operation. The savage drew the match along a portion of his blanket. The youth saw the slight streak of light and heard the tiny sharp explosion followed by the bursting into flame. The buck shielded it with his curving hands, which were raised to meet the stooping head, as it bent forward with the cigarette between the lips.
The glare of the diminutive flame gave a peculiar tint to the fingers, which caused them to glow as if with heat. Then the reflection showed the arched nose, the broad face, the serpent-like eyes, and a few straggling hairs on the upper lip, with a glimpse of the dangling locks, thrown forward by the stoop of the head.