Luck began to think more seriously of Applehead's numerous warnings
about the Indians--and yet, there had been no sound of shooting, which is the
first sign of trouble in this country. Rifle shots can be heard a long way in
this clear air; so Luck presently dismissed that worry and gave his mind to
the very real one which assailed them all; which was water for their horses.
The boys were riding along in silence, sitting over to one side with a foot
dangling free of its stirrup; except Andy, who had hooked one leg over the
saddle-horn and was riding sidewise, smoking a meditative cigarette and
staring out between the ears of his horse. They were tired; horses and men,
they were tired to the middle of their bones. But they went ahead without
making any complaints whatever or rasping oneanother's tempers with ill-chosen
remarks; and for that Luck's eyes brightened with appreciation.
Presently, when they had ridden at least a mile down the arroyo, a gray
hat-crown came bobbing into sight over a low tongue of rocky ground that cut
the channel almost in two. The horses threw up their heads and perked cars
forward inquiringly, and in a moment Happy Tack came into view, his gloomy,
sunburned face wearing a reluctant grin.
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