“Good! I’ll just demonstrate a million dollars into my pocket between now and morning,” promised Stacy.
Hamilton White gave the Overlanders a quick glance of appraisal, and nodded to himself. He admitted that perhaps he had not at first formed the proper estimate of the party he was guiding through the forests and mountains of the rugged state of Washington. All hands, with the possible exception of Stacy, began work, and in less than an hour the camp had been struck and the equipment loaded on the ponies, the embers of the cook fire having been well soaked with water.
The girls of the party were still trying to solve the mystery of their hurried departure as they mounted and started away with Mr. White in the lead. They soon found themselves too fully occupied to give thought to anything other than to dodging trees and low-hanging limbs, for the forest was very dark. Hippy Wingate brought up the rear, Stacy Brown in the middle of the line of riders, grumbling and complaining with every jolt of the pony, now and then dozing off in his saddle but suddenly awakening as a tree-trunk scraped his shin or a bough smote him in the face.
After an hour of uncomfortable riding the guide called a halt, and, strapping on his climbers, began climbing a tree. He was out of sight in a few seconds. In the meantime, Grace, gazing up to the skies, noticed that the stars had now lost their whiteness and had taken on a faded tint. This puzzled her. She did not know how to interpret the change, unless, perhaps, it was caused by fog.
“Did you solve the mystery, Mr. White?” called Emma in her sweetest voice as the guide stepped to the ground and began removing his climbers, for Emma had already attached herself to Hamilton White as a man worth while. “What did you discover?”
“Principally atmosphere, Miss Dean,” was the noncommittal reply.
“I think you are real mean,” pouted Emma. “I am angry with you. Some persons think it is clever to make a mystery of everything, and—”
“Oh, demonstrate over it,” advised Stacy wearily. “It’s only light-headed persons who thus reason.”
“Indeed! That accounts for some of your peculiarities,” Emma came back quickly. By this time the Overlanders were laughing over the sparring of Emma Dean and Stacy Brown.
“Please get under way,” directed the guide, vaulting into his saddle. Grace and Elfreda took up positions behind him, and the journey through the somber forest again began. It continued on until about an hour before daybreak, when, in the faint light, the two girls observed the guide moisten a finger on his lips and hold it up, slowly turning the finger from side to side.