He heard the black bearded man ask the question in a much louder tone than he had been using.
"Sure," Los replied.
"Good. Then I'll beat it. Don't ferget day after ter-morrow."
"I won't."
Both men mounted their horses and Jack tried to flatten himself still farther into the grass. It was a tense moment and to say that he was frightened would hardly begin to express his feelings. He was scared stiff, as he afterward confided to Bob. It seemed impossible that both men would fail to see him and that they would shoot him on sight under the circumstances was, he believed equally certain.
He had decided that his best chance was to lie perfectly still and trust that either they would fail to see him or, in case they did, would take his form for a rock or log. It was a slim hope, but all he had. Did you ever try to lie perfectly still knowing that a single slight movement might be the last you would ever make. If so then you have some idea of Jack's feelings.
All these thoughts passed through the boy's mind in the time that it took the two men to get into their saddles and he was afraid they would hear the beating of his heart so loudly did it seem to thump.
"Well, so long, Los," he heard the older man say.
"So long, Gramp," Los responded.
He knew that the stranger was turning his horse and, in a minute, would be facing directly, or nearly so, toward him. Could he hope to escape detection in that bright moonlight. A silent prayer for protection welled up in his heart as he heard the man speak to his horse. And the answer to the prayer came. Just as suddenly as the rift in the clouds had opened letting out the flood of moonlight, it now closed. It seemed as though a giant hand had drawn a giant curtain over the face of the moon and darkness, seemingly more intense than before, settled on the prairie. Jack's relief was so great that, for an instant, he was incapable of action then, as he heard the heavy breathing of a horse only a few feet away, he quickly sprang to his feet and darted off.