"It would be all over with us then."
"Of course it would. I am dressed differently, to be sure. I can change a little more. Must crop my hair and beard closer. They know me for a long-bearded old man; I must turn myself into a short-haired young one."
"Can't you dye your hair?"
"Not until we get to the settlements. There are no barbers among the Apaches."
"How will we ever get her away, Murray?"
"Oh, my girl! my poor, dear little girl! I dare not think about my wife. No wonder my hair is white. Steve, I must not let her live and die among these wild people. They have been kind to her, she says, and I do not hate them so much, now I know that; but she shall not be an Indian."
He was getting feverishly excited, and Steve replied:
"Now, Murray, of course we will get her away. Haven't you some plan?"
"Only to draw the whole band nearer the frontier or nearer to some fort or other."
"That's good. We would have a shorter distance to run if we should escape."