CHAPTER XVI
THE THREE OF US
In the clearing of Whistling Dan and Tex Calder the marshal had turnedinto his blankets once more. There was no thought of sleep in Dan'smind. When the heavy breathing of the sleeper began he rose andcommenced to pace up and down on the farther side of the open space.Two pairs of glowing eyes followed him in every move. Black Bart, whotrailed him up and down during the first few turns he made, now satdown and watched his master with a wistful gaze. The black stallion,who lay more like a dog than a horse on the ground, kept his earspricked forwards, as if expecting some order. Once or twice hewhinnied very softly, and finally Dan sat down beside Satan, hisshoulders leaned against the satiny side and his arms flung out alongthe stallion's back. Several times he felt hot breath against hischeek as the horse turned a curious head towards him, but he paid noattention, even when the stallion whinnied a question in his ear. Inhis heart was a numb, strange feeling which made him weak. He was evenblind to the fact that Black Bart at last slipped into the shadows ofthe willows.
Presently something cold touched his chin. He found himself staringinto the yellow-green eyes of Black Bart, who panted from his run, andnow dropped from his mouth something which fell into Dan's lap. Itwas the glove of Kate Cumberland. In the grasp of his long nervousfingers, how small it was!; and yet the hand which had wrinkled theleather was strong enough to hold the heart of a man. He slipped andcaught the shaggy black head of Bart between his hands. The wolfknew--in some mysterious way he knew!
The touch of sympathy unnerved him. All his sorrow and his weaknessburst on his soul in a single wave. A big tear struck the shining noseof the wolf.
"Bart!" he whispered. "Did you figger on plumb bustin' my heart, pal?"
To avoid those large melancholy eyes, Bart pressed his head inside ofhis master's arms.
"Delilah!" whispered Dan.
After that not a sound came from the three, the horse, the dog, orthe man. Black Bart curled up at the feet of his master and seemed tosleep, but every now and then an ear raised or an eye twitched open.He was on guard against a danger which he did not understand. Thehorse, also, with a high head scanned the circling willows, alert; butthe man for whom the stallion and the wolf watched gave no heed toeither. There was a vacant and dreamy expression in his eye as if hewas searching his own inner heart and found there the greatest enemyof all. All night they sat in this manner, silent, moveless; theanimals watching against the world, the man watching against himself.Before dawn he roused himself suddenly, crossed to the sleepingmarshal, and touched him on the arm.
"It's time we hit the trail," he said, as Calder sat up in theblanket.
"What's happened? Isn't it our job to comb the willows?"
"Silent ain't in the willows."
Calder started to his feet.
"How do you know?"
"They ain't close to us, that's all I know."
Tex smiled incredulously.
"I suppose," he said good humouredly, "that your _instinct_ brought youthis message?"
"Instinct?" repeated Dan blankly, "I dunno."
Calder grew serious.
"We'll take a chance that you may be right. At least we can ride downthe river bank and see if there are any fresh tracks in the sand. IfSilent started this morning I have an idea he'll head across the riverand line out for the railroad."
In twenty minutes their breakfast was eaten and they were in thesaddle. The sun had not yet risen when they came out of the willows tothe broad shallow basin of the river. In spring, when the snow of themountains melted, that river filled from bank to bank with a yellowtorrent; at the dry season of the year it was a dirty little creekmeandering through the sands. Down the bank they rode at a sharp trotfor a mile and a half until Black Bart, who scouted ahead of them athis gliding wolf-trot, came to an abrupt stop. Dan spoke to Satan andthe stallion broke into a swift gallop which left the pony of TexCalder labouring in the rear. When they drew rein beside the wolf,they found seven distinct tracks of horses which went down the bankof the river and crossed the basin. Calder turned with a wide-eyedamazement to Dan.
"You're right again," he said, not without a touch of vexation in hisvoice; "but the dog stopped at these tracks. How does he know we arehunting for Silent's crew?"
"I dunno," said Dan, "maybe he jest suspects."
"They can't have a long start of us," said Calder. "Let's hit thetrail. Well get them before night."
"No," said Dan, "we won't."
"Why won't we?"
"I've seen Silent's hoss, and I've ridden him. If the rest of his ganghave the same kind of hoss flesh, you c'n never catch him with thatcayuse of yours."
"Maybe not today," said Calder, "but in two days we'll run him down.Seven horses can't travel as two in a long chase."
They started out across the basin, keeping to the tracks of Silent'shorses. It was the marshal's idea that the outlaws would head on afairly straight line for the railroad and accordingly when they lostthe track of the seven horses they kept to this direction. Twiceduring the day they verified their course by information received oncefrom a range rider and once from a man in a dusty buck-board. Both ofthese had sighted the fast travelling band, but each had seen it passan hour or two before Calder and Dan arrived. Such tidings encouragedthe marshal to keep his horse at an increasing speed; but in themiddle of the afternoon, though black Satan showed little or no signsof fatigue, the cattle-pony was nearly blown and they were forced toreduce their pace to the ordinary dog-trot.