CHAPTER XVI
BACK IN CAMP
From their place of concealment high upon the edge of Antelope Butte,
Alice Marcum and Endicott watched the movements of the three horsemen
with absorbing interest. They saw the Texan circle to the
south-eastward and swing north to intercept the trail of the unknown
rider. They watched Bat, with Indian cunning, creep to his place of
concealment at the edge of the coulee. They saw the riders disperse,
the unknown to head toward the mountains at a gallop, and the Texan to
turn his horse southward and ride slowly into the bad lands. And they
watched Bat recover his own horse from behind a rock pinnacle and
follow the Texan, always keeping out of sight in parallel coulees until
both were swallowed up in the amethyst haze of the bad lands.
For an hour they remained in their lookout, pointing out to each other
some new wonder of the landscape--a wind-carved pinnacle, the
heliographic flashing of the mica, or some new combination in the
ever-changing splendour of colours.
"Whew! But it's hot, and I'm thirsty. And besides it's lunch time."
Alice rose, and with Endicott following, made her way to the camp.
"Isn't it wonderful?" she breathed, as they ate their luncheon. "This
life in the open--the pure clean air--the magnificent world all spread
out before you, beckoning you on, and on, and on.
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