Grace said nothing, but she gripped the reins harder in her hands. She had made up her mind that at the first sign of danger she would turn Nabob and make a dash back down the trail for safety.
After that the silence became so pronounced that Mollie noticed it and laughed nervously.
"Why all the noise?" she asked jocosely. "It nearly breaks my ear drums."
"Hush," cried Amy warningly. "I thought I heard something."
"That was your own heart hammering against the tree trunks," retorted Mollie dryly, at which the girls giggled and the tension relaxed.
"Let's talk about something nice," Betty suggested. "Gold, for instance."
"Or Allen," teased Grace. "I reckon you won't be glad or anything when he gets here."
"I guess mother will be gladder than any of us," replied Betty promptly, trying to shift the spotlight from herself. "She was so excited when I told her what Dan Higgins said about the possibility of there being gold on the ranch that she hardly closed her eyes all night. I told her she was getting to be a regular adventuress."
"Like her daughter," said Mollie, with a chuckle.
"Just think of the story we can tell the boys when we get home," said Amy rapturously, adding apologetically as the girls glanced at her: "If we find the gold, I mean."