happen then? Was there no escape from the invisible network round them?
What was that? In the silence he heard a gentle scratching sound. It came from the door of the house. Ferrier crept into the hall and listened intently. There was a pause for a few moments, and then the insidious sound was repeated. Someone was evidently tapping very gently upon one of the panels of the door. Was it some midnight assassin? The suspense shook his nerves and chilled his heart. John Ferrier sprang forward and drew the bolt and opened the door.
Outside all was calm and quiet. The night was fine, and the stars were twinkling brightly overhead. The little front garden lay before the farmer’s eyes. Ferrier looked to right and to left, and at his own feet he saw astonishment a man upon the ground. It was Jefferson Hope.
“Good God!” gasped John Ferrier. “How you scared me!”
“Give me food,” the other said, hoarsely.
He saw the cold meat and bread which were lying upon the table, and devoured it voraciously. “How is Lucy?” he asked.
“All right. She does not know the danger,” her father answered.
“That is well. They watch the house on every side[57]. That is why I crawled.”
John Ferrier realized that he had a devoted ally. He seized the young man’s hand and wrung it cordially.
“I am proud of you,” he said.
“You see,” the young hunter answered. “I have a respect for you. And it’s Lucy that brings me here.”
“What shall we do?”
“Tomorrow is your last day, we must act tonight. I have a mule and two horses, they are waiting in the Eagle Ravine[58]. How much money have you?”
“Two thousand dollars in gold, and five in notes.”
“That will do. I have some money, too. We must go to Carson City through the mountains. Wake Lucy. It is well that the servants do not sleep in the house.”
While Ferrier was absent, Jefferson Hope packed all the food that he could find into a small parcel, and filled a jar with water. Soon the farmer returned with his daughter. She was dressed and ready for a start. The greeting between the lovers was warm, but brief, for minutes were precious.
“We must start at once,” said Jefferson Hope. He was speaking in a low but resolute voice. “They watch front and back entrances, but with caution we may get away through the side window and across the fields. We are only two miles from the Ravine where the horses are waiting.”
“And if they stop us?” asked Ferrier.
Hope showed his revolver.
“If they are too many for us, we shall take two or three of them with us,” he said with a sinister smile.
The old farmer turned off the lights inside the house. Ferrier peered over his fields, which he was going to abandon for ever. But the honour and happiness of his daughter outweighed any regret at his ruined fortunes.
All looked peaceful and happy, but the white face and the expression of the young hunter showed that the danger was near.
Ferrier carried the bag of gold and notes, Jefferson Hope had the scanty provisions and water, while Lucy had a small bundle. They opened the window very slowly and carefully. They waited a little, and then one by one passed through into the little garden. They stumbled across it, and gained the shelter of the hedge. Then they came to the gap which opened into the cornfields. They reached this point when the young man seized his two companions and dragged them down into the shadow, where they lay silent.
Jefferson Hope’s prairie training gave him the ears of a lynx. He and his friends crouched down and heard the melancholy hooting of a mountain owl within a few yards of them. Another hoot immediately answered it. At the same moment a vague shadowy figure emerged from the gap. The first man uttered the plaintive signal cry again, and the second man appeared out of the obscurity.
“Tomorrow at midnight,” said the first man.
“When the Whip-poor-Will[59] calls three times.”
“It is well,” returned the other. “Shall I tell Brother Drebber?”
“Pass it on to him, and from him to the others. Nine to seven!”
“Seven to five!” repeated the other, and the two figures flitted away in different directions.
Their footsteps died away in the distance. Jefferson Hope sprang to his feet, and helped his companions through the gap. He led the way across the fields, he was supporting and carrying the girl.
“Hurry on! hurry on!” he gasped from time to time. “Everything depends on speed. Hurry on!”
They made rapid progress. Only once they met someone, and then they managed to slip into a field. Then the hunter chose a rugged and narrow footpath which led to the mountains. Two dark peaks loomed above them through the darkness. It was the Eagle Ravine in which the horses were awaiting them.
Jefferson Hope picked his way among the great boulders and along the watercourse. The girl sat upon the mule, and old Ferrier upon one of the horses, with his money-bag, while Jefferson Hope led the other along the precipitous and dangerous path.
In spite of all dangers and difficulties, the fugitives were happy, for every step increased the distance between them and the terrible people.
They soon had a proof, however, that they were still within the jurisdiction of the Saints. Suddenly the girl gave a cry and pointed upwards. On a rock, there stood a solitary sentinel. He saw them and asked:
“Who goes there?”
“Travellers for Nevada,” said Jefferson Hope, with his hand upon the rifle.
The lonely watcher was peering down at them.
“By whose permission?” he asked.
“The Holy Four,” answered Ferrier.
“Nine to seven,” cried the sentinel.
“Seven to five,” returned Jefferson Hope promptly. He remembered the countersign in the garden.
“Pass, and the Lord go with you,” said the voice from above.
They went forward. They knew that freedom lay before them.
Chapter V
The Avenging Angels
All night their course lay through intricate defiles and over and rock-strewn paths. More than once they lost their way, but Hope’s knowledge of the mountains enabled them to regain the track once more.
In the morning, a scene of marvellous though savage beauty lay before them. The rocky banks were on either side of them.
The sun rose slowly above the eastern horizon. The magnificent spectacle cheered the hearts of the three fugitives and gave them fresh energy. But Jefferson Hope was inexorable.
on every side – со всех сторон
Eagle Ravine – Орлиное ущелье
Whip-poor-Will – козодой
