"This is so strange I can hardly realize the truth," he said gravely. "But, dear one, we must talk elsewhere, and not here. Life was never before worth so much as it is now, and every instant we waste here may mean capture and death. Come, there are two ponies at the mouth of the valley."
He snatched up the blanket from the ground, and wrapped it about her in such manner as to enable her to walk; stooped over Hughes, loosened the revolver from his stiffened fingers, and then came back to where she waited.
"You can walk? It is not far."
"Yes, the numbness is all gone."
He was all seriousness now, alert and watchful, the plainsman and the soldier.
"Then come; I'll break trail."
"Where is the Indian village?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly.
"Beyond those bluffs; at least Hughes thought so. We saw their pony herd in the valley below, mere dots against the snow."
Ten minutes later, ploughing through the intervening drifts, they came forth to the broad vista of the valley and the two patient ponies standing motionless.