To this proposal Henri willingly assented. He was more done up than he would admit, but had gamely struggled to overcome fatigue and an almost irresistible desire for sleep.
Sitting back to back, as a mutual protection from the cold, the two men ate and drank in silence. They dare not smoke, knowing that the flicker of a match or the glow of a cigarette might indicate their presence.
"Time," announced Dacres in a low voice.
It required a great effort for them to regain their feet. The cold had numbed their weary limbs, and the Englishman was forced to come to the unpleasant conclusion that the halt had done them more harm than good.
On and on they trudged till the dawn. The Sierras, their snow-clad peaks crimsoned by the rising sun long before the orb of day appeared above the horizon, seemed as far off as they had on the previous night.
"You sleep for a few hours," suggested Dacres after another scanty and unappetising repast. "I'll keep watch."
The young Frenchman protested, but in vain. His companion was obdurate. With a quaint gesture of despair Henri stretched himself upon the grass and was soon fast asleep, utterly worn out with his long period of wakefulness.
Although Dacres was heavy-eyed he stoutly resisted the inclination to slumber. Very easily he could have shut his eyes and dozed while he was standing. More than once his head fell upon his chest to the accompaniment of a painful jerk of the back of his neck. Then with a sudden start he would open his eyes and survey the seemingly boundless expanse of waving grass in every direction, save where the distant mountains reared themselves in solitary grandeur. For two hours he kept the tedious vigil, the rapidly increasing heat of the sun adding to his discomfort.
"What's that?" he muttered, as a number of small moving objects at a distance of at least two miles caught his attention.
He rubbed his eyes, thinking possibly that his sense of vision was playing him a trick. No, he was not mistaken. There was movement—the movement of horses and possibly horsemen.