He turned angrily on the others. "Get a light and the express rifle!"
"Matt!" said Lynn. She had squeezed to his side. "You're not going down there?"
"I'm going after Pendergrast."
She said, "Matt, please don't go. Let someone else." She took his hand, kissed it shamelessly and pressed it to her breast. "Wait till morning, Matt."
"He might be alive. You go on to your cabin and get out of those wet clothes."
"I'm not moving a foot until you get back." She still held onto his hand.
After a few minutes the chief engineer pushed through the press and handed Matt the rifle. "I'll take the light," he said. "We'll both go down."
"Thanks," said Matt. He made sure a cartridge was in the chamber and then began to climb down the ladder.
From over his head, the chief engineer's light flashed, probing the brush below. Matt could see no sign of a bull or of Pendergrast. He reached the soggy earth and waited until the chief joined him.