ghts went from him.

"I don't see a sign of a living person," he added, slowing the gait of
his steed; "suppose the Comanches made a descent upon them in the night
and managed to secure entrance--well, by gracious!"

CHAPTER XXV.

HEADING NORTHWARD.

Avon Burnet's misgiving increased as he drew near the cabin of his
uncle, for the unwonted stillness was impressive to the last degree. The
only sign of life which caught his eye was the horse cropping the grass
near the mesquite bush.

It seemed dangerous to do as he did, but in his anxiety he sprang to the
ground and walked hastily to the front of the dwelling. Observing the
latch-string out, he gave it a sharp twitch and the door swung open.

Dinah confronted him with a look of surprise, and just beyond her, he
saw his aunt preparing the morning meal.

"Why, Avon, you are frightened," said she with a smile.

"So I am; where's uncle?"

"He will be down in a minute; when I awoke, I saw he was asleep, and I
concluded not to awake him. You know he had a hard time yesterday and
last night, and I took the responsibility of not calling him. The poor
man needs rest and it won't hurt you folks to wait a while."

The youth dropped into a chair and laughed.

"Well, now, that beats everything! We were worried half to death, and
feared something dreadful had happened."

"Nothing of the kind; we haven't been disturbed since you and Gleeson
went away. If we had, the captain would have been awake."

The gentleman referred to was heard moving about overhead, and a
few minutes later put in an appearance. He scolded his wife in a
good-natured way for her well-meant kindness, and adding that no harm
had been done, sat down to his morning meal.

The preliminaries were quickly finished, the good-by said, and leaping
into his saddle, the captain joined his nephew in a smart gallop
northward to camp, where they joined their anxious friends.

And so what promised to furnish a stirring sensation proved nothing at
all. It was rare that the Texan allowed his weariness to get the better
of him, but it had done so in this case, and none laughed more heartily
over it than he.

A brief investigation showed everything to be in readiness, and the sun
was not far above the horizon when the start on the long journey
northward was made.

The cattle seemed to have recovered from the restlessness of the night
before, and were as tractable as could be desired. They moved forward at