"
This was bad news indeed. What folly had induced a woman to ride so far
across the Borders? It could be no settler's wife, but some dame from
the coast country who had not the sense to be timid. 'Twas a grievous
affliction for two men on an arduous quest to have to protect a foolish
female with the Cherokees all about them.
There was no help for it, and as swiftly as possible and with all
circumspection Shalah trailed the horse's prints. They kept the high
ground, in very broken country, which was the reason why the rider had
escaped the Indians' notice. Clearly they were moving slowly, and from
the frequent halts and turnings I gathered that the rider had not much
purpose about the road.
Then we came on a glade where the rider had dismounted and let the
beast go. The horse had wandered down the ridge to the right in search
of grazing, and the prints of a woman's foot led to the summit of a
knoll which raised itself above the trees.
There, knee-deep in a patch of fern, I saw what I had never dreamed of,
what sent the blood from my heart in a cold shudder of fear: a girl,
pale and dishevelled, was trying to part some vines. A twig crackled
and she looked round, showing a face drawn with weariness and eyes
large with terror.
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