“‘Those things that have been following us,’ he whispered.
“Then he came quite close to me and caught my arm.
“‘They live back there up in the snow, and they’re trying to get me and take me back with them, but they won’t.’ He broke into a wild laugh that made my scalp tighten till I could almost feel my hat lift on my hair.
“‘Don’t talk nonsense, Nevins,’ I snapped. ‘We’re far ahead of them. They’ll never catch us now.’
“He looked sharply at me.
“‘You’re more of a fool than I thought you,’ he said contemptuously. ‘They’ve been following us all day. They’re close behind us now!’
“I confess that his manner was such that I jumped nervously and looked behind me as he spoke. Of course there was nothing there but the trail, and I told him so, but a contemptuous laugh was all that I got.
“Well, in the course of my career as a trooper I’ve handled some pretty bad characters and been into some tight places and faced some situations where things looked mighty bad, but I never felt such a feeling of real scare as I had at that moment. Having made this outburst, Nevins started off again. After a while, when it began to get dark, I determined to make a last try to check his crazy plan. I stopped dead.
“‘Here’s where I stop, Nevins,’ I said. ‘I’m dead beat.’