"
"But when they find us gone?"
"Think of Dan--not me!"
"God be merciful to you!"
In a moment the back door of the shanty creaked. They must be opening
it by inches. When it was wide they would run for the stable. He
wished now that he had warned Kate to walk, for a slow moving object
catches the eye more seldom than one which travels fast. If Lee Haines
was watching at that moment his attention must be held to Buck for one
all important minute. He stood up, rolled a cigarette swiftly, and
lighted it. The spurt and flare of the match would hold even the most
suspicious eye for a short time, and in those few seconds Kate and her
father might pass out of view behind the stable.
He sat down again. A muffled sneeze came from the ranch house and Buck
felt his blood run cold. The forgotten cigarette between his fingers
burned to a dull red and then went out. In the stable a horse stamped.
He leaned back, locked his hands idly behind his head, and commenced
to whistle. Now there was a snort, as of a horse when it leaves the
shelter of a barn and takes the first breath of open air.
All these sounds were faint, but to Buck, straining his ears in an
agony of suspense, each one came like the blast of a trumpet.
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