But the ride of the four in the trail of Castenada's flying troop was
peaceful enough. About three hours after midnight they stopped under the
shelter of some cottonwoods. The Ring Tailed Panther took the watch
while the other three slept. Ned lay awake for a little while between
his blankets, but he saw that Urrea, who was not ten feet away, had gone
sound asleep almost instantly. His olive face lighted dimly by the
moon's rays was smooth and peaceful, and Ned was quite sure that he
would be a good comrade. Then he, too, entered the land of slumber.
The Ring Tailed Panther stalked up and down, his broad powerful figure
becoming gigantic in the moonlight. Belligerent by nature and the born
frontiersman, he was very serious now.
He knew that they were riding toward great danger and he glanced at the
face of the sleeping boy. The Ring Tailed Panther had a heart within
him, and the temptation to make Ned go back, if he could, was very
strong. But he quickly dismissed it as useless. The boy would not go.
Besides, he was skillful, strong and daring.
The Ring Tailed Panther tramped on. Coyotes howled on the prairie, and
the deeper note of a timber wolf came from the right, where there was a
thick fringe of trees along a creek.
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