"Here, Sing," she said simply, "and thank you."
The Chinaman bowed low three times before he took the precious symbol into his keeping. He slipped it inside his loose blouse.
"All ledee now," he said, holding a stirrup for Peggy to mount.
"But how will you explain it? Won't they kill you when they find the ponies are gone?" asked Roy.
The Oriental laughed the throaty, mirthless chuckle of his race.
"I tellee them you steal them," he said; "they no thinkee Ali Sing hab good sense enough to help you. All litee now. Good bye."
Before they were thoroughly aware of it, so swiftly had the actual escape happened, Peggy and Roy found themselves moving out of the valley on their desperate dash for freedom. The ponies went silently as wraiths. The astute Ah Sing had bundled their feet in sacks so that they made no more noise than cats.
In the faint light they could perceive the gateway of the little valley, and in a short time they had passed it and were beginning to traverse the gloomy stretches beyond. Suddenly there came a sound that sent every drop of blood in their bodies flying to their hearts, and then set it to coursing wildly through their veins again.
Bang!
The report, coming from behind them, cut the stillness of the night like a scimitar of sound.