All the while she was pushing Amos from her, and pointing toward the gully through which the creek ran, as offering the best means of leaving the camp without being observed; which showed that even this child of Nature had in her short life picked up considerable knowledge of woodcraft from association with her father, who at times was still engaged in trapping fur-bearing animals.
Teddy thought it just as well to rise up on his knees, so as to let the girl know Amos had friends near by, who would see him through.
She did immediately catch sight of him, and from her gestures it was evident that she was calling the attention of the woods-boy to the fact, for Amos suddenly turned his head, and waved his hand toward them.
Both Teddy and Dolph thereupon beckoned wildly to him to make haste because it seemed the height of foolishness for Amos to delay any longer.
They saw him bend down and kiss Sallie—kiss her just as reverently as a mother might her child at parting; and the act stamped Amos as a true-hearted fellow. Little though he had seen of Sallie, the poacher’s daughter, he had in that short time come to be deeply concerned about her gloomy future, and to care for her just as though she were a little sister whom he should always remember.
CHAPTER XXI
THE UPLIFTED HAND
Amos made the transfer without a hitch.