When the moon set, Tad had no choice but to stay where he was and rest. He tried to feel his way along in the inky dark, but after he had stumbled against trees and nearly lost the path, he gave it up. There were still two or three hours till dawn, and he was very tired. A few yards off the path he found a place where he could sit, with his back against a tree. And in thirty seconds he was asleep. Fortunately the cramped position he was in woke him before daylight and he staggered up, stiff and sore, but with his strength renewed. A faint grayness was beginning to show through the trees, so that now he had no trouble in following the path. He had a feeling that the river could not be far off. A moment later the cheerful blast of a steamboat whistle sounded, close at hand. Tad’s heart pounded with joy, and he pushed forward almost at a run. Within a hundred yards he came to a place where he could glimpse the road, brown and dusty in the increasing light, bending south along the crest of the bluff. He abandoned the path and cut into the brush, striking northward with the highway and the river below on his left. He was looking for a good place to cross the road and make the descent of the bluff. Just as he thought he had found such a spot, and was preparing to leave the shelter of the undergrowth, his ears caught a faint clink of metal. He crouched where he was, waiting. Soon the sound was repeated, and with it he heard the musical jingle of a bridle chain. Then came a man’s voice, muffled, quieting a restless horse, and a moment later he heard the soft thud of hoofs on grass. Three mounted men came down the road from Natchez, riding silently in single file, their lathered horses at a walk. They were wrapped in cloaks and their hats were pulled low over their faces, but Tad knew them. The leader rode a big sorrel with three white legs. Almost opposite Tad they pulled up and talked in low tones for a minute. He could not hear their words, but their gestures were short and angry. Hunched there in their saddles, they looked like ruffled birds of prey. The leader jerked his horse around, motioned to one of the riders to stay where he was, and with the other at his heels, set off down the road. The man who remained looked after them grouchily for a moment, then swung down from his horse, pulled the reins over his arm, and sat down with his back against a stump. As quietly as he knew how, Tad crawled back a dozen yards or more into the woods. When he was sure the rank growth screened him completely, he got up and started northward again, fairly holding his breath in his effort to make no noise.