“Nella-Rose?”
“Yes—but, oh! be mighty still. They may be here any minute.”
“They? Who?”
“All of them. Jed Martin, my father, and the others—the ones who are friends of—of—”
“Whom, Nella-Rose?”
“Burke Lawson! He’s back—and they think—oh! they think they are on his trail—here! I—I was trying to get away but the streams were swollen and the big trees were bending and—and I hid behind a rock and—I heard!
“First it was Jed and father; they said they were going to shoot—they’d given up catching Burke alive! Then they went up-stream and the—the others came—the friends, and they ’lowed that Burke was here and they meant to get here before Jed and—and da some killing on their side. I—I thought it was fun when they-all meant to take Burke alive, but now—oh! now can’t you see?—they’ll shoot and find out afterward! They may come any minute! I put the light out. Come, we must leave the cabin empty-looking—like you had gone—and hide!”
The breathless whispering stopped and Truedale collected his senses in the face of this real danger.
“But you—you must not be here, Nella-Rose!”
Every nerve was alert now. “This is pure madness. Great heavens! what am I going to do with you?”