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Show Page 37 Darkness was falling when the fleeing girls heard hoofbeats coming near. Quickly Beth ducked into the timber while Ann rode toward the approaching animals. It was only a group of range horses. Ann rode back to find Beth. She called and whistled, but no Beth appeared. Beth heard Ann calling, but afraid it was a trick of the Indians, she crept deeper into the trees. Finally Ann gave up and decided to wait there until morning. But Ann's horse refused to keep still. He smelled Beth's horse and after Ann turned him loose, he led her straight to the frightened girl's hiding place. Once more the girls galloped for home, but they had gone only five miles when again they heard hoofbeats, this time coming from behind. And this time the hoofbeats were regular, with no stops, a sign the horse was being ridden. The girls hid together this time. As the rider passed without seeing them they heard leather squeak and felt a surge of relief. Indians didn't use leather saddles so they were quite certain the rider was a white man. Beth and Ann followed him for some distance, however, before they pulled up in a shadow and whistled. The rider answered the signal and out of the darkness appeared Walt Nisbet, a salesman from Denver who had been taking orders in the area. Walt and Beth had met a number of times and fallen in love. |