He had already made his tentative plans; he made his way down
into the bed of the ravine and thence upstream. Swiftly the light
increased over the still solitudes. The sun was up on the highlands,
the canons only were still dusky.
He found a place where he could stand hidden and see the cliff-broken
slope where Betty was. Here he stood motionless for a long time,
watching. For he knew that if by chance someone had seen him and had
not followed it was because that someone had elected rather to seek the
girl. At last, when the stillness remained unbroken and he saw no
stirring thing, he expressed his relief in a deep sigh and went on.
His plan was to work his way up the ravine until at last he topped the
ridge and went down on the further side. From his starting place he
had roughly picked out his way, shaping his trail to conform to those
bits of timber which would aid in his concealment. Once over the ridge
he would press on until several miles lay between him and Betty. Then,
if he saw game of any sort or a straying calf or sheep, he would have
to take the chance that a rifle shot entailed. If his shot brought
Zoraida's men down on him, he would have to fight for it or run for it
as circumstances directed.
He was an hour in cresting the first ridge. Before him lay a wild
country, broken and barren in places where there were wildernesses of
rock and thorny bush; in other places scantily timbered and grown up in
tough grasses.
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