Tavia asked the question more by the motion of her lips than in spoken words, for she, like Dorothy, felt it almost impossible to break that intense, waiting stillness.
Dorothy made a gesture pleading for silence, at the same time it urged Tavia to a little faster pace. It was plain that Dorothy, like her chum, had decided that their one chance lay in their ability to ignore the beast. By pretending not to notice him, they might gain time, might baffle him temporarily. The road could not be far distant!
There was a sound, slight in itself, but breaking upon that silence with a horrible significance, the sound of a cracking twig.
The creature was becoming bolder, was creeping up upon them!
The girls longed to cry out, to scream for help, yet could not utter a sound.
It was like a nightmare, this steady approach of the implacable beast. Their limbs felt suddenly paralyzed. They had a horrible sensation that they could not have run had they wanted to.
They were going faster, however. Without realizing it they had increased their pace till they were almost running. Probably it was that that gave the stalking beast confidence. His victims were afraid! The two ponies resisted the efforts of the girls to hold them and broke away, bolting down the trail.
A swift, terrified glance behind her told Dorothy that the panther had advanced to within twenty paces of them. In another moment he would be crouching for the spring.
Dorothy called suddenly to her chum in a queer, high voice.
“Stop, Tavia! Stay where you are. I—I’m going to sing!”