VI
The morning was well advanced when a far, faint halloo broke through the silence of the valley. The ranger stood like a statue, while Peggy cried out:
"It's one of our men!"
Alice turned to the outlaw with anxious face. "If it's the sheriff stay in here with me. Let me plead for you. I want him to know what you've done for us."
The look that came upon his face turned her cold with fear. "If it is the sheriff—" He did not finish, but she understood.
The halloo sounded nearer and the outlaw's face lightened. "It's one of your party. He is coming up from below."
Impatiently they waited for the new-comer to appear, and though he seemed to draw nearer at every shout, his progress was very slow. At last the man appeared on the opposite bank of the stream. He was covered with snow and stumbling along like a man half dead with hunger and fatigue.
"Why, it's Gage!" exclaimed Peggy.
It was indeed the old hunter, and as he drew near his gaunt and bloodless face was like that of a starved and hunted animal. His first word was an anxious inquiry, "How are ye?"
"All well," Peggy answered.