]
"Well," he repeated, "this chasing up a pack train isn't so easy as it
looks, eh?"
She did not answer. Her pride would not allow her to admit that she
was glad to see him, relieved to be overtaken like a truant from
school. And Bill did not seem to expect a reply. He slung his rifle
into the crook of his arm.
"Come on, little woman," he said gently. "I knew you'd be tired, and I
made camp down below. It isn't far."
Obediently she followed him, and as she tramped at his heels she saw
why he had been able to come up on her so noiselessly. He had put on a
pair of moccasins, and his tread gave forth no sound.
"How did you manage to find me?" she asked suddenly--the first
voluntary speech from her in days.
Bill answered over his shoulder:
"Find you? Bless your soul, your little, high-heeled slices left a
trail a one-eyed man could follow. I've been within fifty yards of you
for two hours.
"Just the same," he continued, after a minute's interval, "it's bad
business for you to run off like that. Suppose you played hide and
seek with me till a storm wiped out your track? You'd be in a deuce of
a fix."
She made no reply. The lesson of the experience was not lost on her,
but she was not going to tell him so.
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