There was a gutteral conversation in Apache then, and Allifair began to cry softly, but Hall was listening over the wall. If the Apaches took up his trail they would undoubtedly find his horses; and his turkey traps and saddles, too. They might even find the entrance to their cave, with results which he did not care to contemplate; for he could not kill the Randolphs and they were sworn to kill him--but fate turned the shaft away. The Indians were afraid of Old Man Baker and his mountain and they revised their opinions to suit. "Go hon--down wate'," answered the spokesman at last "Fall in--maybeso both dlown. How much you give--findum body?" "Nothing!" burst out Cal, "go on away, you dirty devil. By God, Ewing; I believe he's right." "Well, I told ye!" accused Ewing, his voice high and complaining, "I told you we hadn't ought to come! But you had to have your way, and now who's going to face Dad----" "Aw, hush up!" returned Cal impatiently. "You--give--coffee?" asked the Indian with painful distinctness, and Cal flew into a fury. "No--damn ye!" he cursed. "Git away, before I kill ye. Come on, Ewing; let's quit and go home." There was a silence then, broken by sonorous Apache as the Indians talked on gravely among themselves; and finally, across the creek, Hall saw the Texans riding north and the Randolphs heading for Tonto. Then he stooped and gathered up Allifair, who had given herself over to weeping, and carried her into the house. "I can't help it!" she sobbed, "they're all so rough and brutal; and they curse and--oh, I just hate them! And to think of Cal and Ewing offering two hundred dollars----" "And they'd have found us, too," nodded Hall. "But God looks after His own. I believe He is saving us, to work His will elsewhere--I'll never doubt it again. When I came here to look for you I was sure of my mission. I knew He was leading me to you; and I knew that somehow we should manage to escape, and be united, and unite our own people. But afterwards, when I was hiding like a rabbit among the rocks and the Scarboroughs were prospering so wonderfully--well, I couldn't believe it, it didn't seem possible, it hardly seems possible now. But hatred raises up hatred until it destroys itself; and now this sheepman, Grimes, whose herders they killed, has descended like a destroying angel upon them. It will all work out now, and when I come back----" "Are you going?" she asked suddenly, sitting bolt upright. "Oh, Hall, I want you--here with me! I'll live on acorns, I'll do anything--won't you stay?" "I'll be back soon," he said, and turned away. CHAPTER XXV LIVE BAIT