"I dreamed you had gone away," she said, shivering violently and drawing close. "Oh, it was a terrible awakening—"
"I was too tired to dream," he said.
"So I had to come and see if you were really here."
He quickly rekindled the fire, and they made a hasty breakfast. Before the warmth of the rising sun had penetrated the cold air they had climbed the ridge and obtained a wondrous view of broken country, the hills alight with the morning rays, the valleys misty and mystical. They made good progress on the summit, which was paved with barren rock and sparsely carpeted with short moss, while there was never a hint of insects to annoy them. Merrily they swung along, buoyed up by an unnatural exaltation; yet now and then, as they drew near their destination, the young man had a chilling premonition of evil to come, and wondered if he had not been foolhardy to undertake this rash enterprise.
"I wish Stark was not one of Lee's party," he said once. "He may misunderstand our being together this way."
"But when he learns that we love each other, that will explain everything."
"I'm not so sure. He doesn't know you as Lee and Poleon and your father do. I think we had better say nothing at all about—you and me—to any one."
"But why?" questioned the girl, stopping abruptly. "They will know it, anyhow, when they see us. I can't conceal it."
"I am wiser in this than you are," the soldier insisted, "and we mustn't act like lovers; trust this to me."
"Oh, I won't play that!" cried Necia, petulantly. "If all this is going to end when we get to Lee's cabin, we'll stay right here forever."