“She were.”
“Good; come on.”
After going half a mile further the old man called upon them to stop.
They were now in the heart of a wild country.
The mountains loomed up in the distance ahead.
On either hand was a rough, broken ravine or gulch running back to the base of the heights.
“Hark! I thought mebbe I herd her holler. But my old ears ain’t to be depended on like they were once. Ann Mayhesters, my——”
“Shut up your gabble, old fool!” commanded the leader. “I thought I heard some one cry out.”
In the silence that followed a faint cry was borne to their ears from the fastness of the region to their right.
It was beyond dispute a woman’s voice.