At present, however, time is pressing and therefore that
pleasure we must postpone. Meantime I promise you that when it comes it
will be on equal terms."
"I ask no more," said Cameron.
There was no further conversation, for Raven appeared intent on putting
as large a space as possible between himself and the camp of the
Stonies. The discovery of the fraud he knew would be inevitable and he
knew, too, that George Macdougall was not the man to allow his flock to
be fleeced with impunity.
So before the grey light of morning began to steal over the mountaintops
Raven, with his bunch of ponies and his loot, was many miles forward
on his journey. But the endurance even of bronchos and cayuses has its
limit, and their desperate condition from hunger and fatigue rendered
food and rest imperative.
The sun was fully up when Raven ordered a halt, and in a sunny valley,
deep with grass, unsaddling the wearied animals, he turned them loose to
feed and rest. Apparently careless of danger and highly contented
with their night's achievement, he and his Indian partner abandoned
themselves to sleep. Cameron, too, though his indignation and chagrin
prevented sleep for a time, was finally forced to yield to the genial
influences of the warm sun and the languid airs of the spring day, and,
firmly resolving to keep awake, he fell into dreamless slumber.
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