"Come!" he said. "Tear your shirt up into strips—I'm going to muffle the feet of the horses."
He went to work with a will, and Dick followed his example, smiling to himself. He knew Stepan too well to argue with him in such a mood. But that there was serious danger he could not believe for a moment.
"Come!" said Stepan again, when they had finished. He took his horse and led it into the field. They were in wooded country but the trees were not thick, and they could pick a way through them.
Dick looked back at the blazing fire regretfully.
"Are you going on—now?" he asked.
"For your sake," said Stepan, curtly. And Dick said no more.
"A mile away there is another road. We have maps of all this region, of course, and I studied them," said Stepan. "If we can reach a place I have just thought of we may be safe."
They came undisturbed to the parallel road. Then they mounted.
"The horses are pretty tired," suggested Dick.
"I'm sorry for them, but I can't help that," said Stepan. "Come on—ride!"