No questions nor explanations passed between the husband and his wife.
It was only as the latter was about to withdraw among her children,
for the night, that the former saw her taking a furtive look at the
pan of his rifle. Ishmael bade his sons seek their rest, announcing
his intention to look to the safety of the camp in person. When all
was still, he walked out upon the prairie, with a sort of sensation
that he found his breathing among the tents too straitened. The night
was well adapted to heighten the feelings, which had been created by
the events of the day.
The wind had risen with the moon, and it was occasionally sweeping
over the plain, in a manner that made it not difficult for the
sentinel to imagine strange and unearthly sounds were mingling in the
blasts. Yielding to the extraordinary impulses of which he was the
subject, he cast a glance around, to see that all were slumbering in
security, and then he strayed towards the swell of land already
mentioned. Here the squatter found himself at a point that commanded a
view to the east and to the west.
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