Avon Burnet waited several minutes after the light went out, in the hope that it would reappear and give him an indication of its nature and cause; but darkness continued, and he concluded that his first suspicion was right: some in riding over the prairie had halted to light his cigar or pipe, and then ridden on to join his comrades near the cabin.  
The youth was in the situation of the who finds himself adrift in mid-ocean, without compass or rudder. Neither the sky nor the ground gave him any help, and in order to reach the camp of his friends he must, under Heaven, rely upon his own skill.
 
“There’s one thing certain,” he concluded, “I shall never get there without making a 78break. I have secured a pretty good horse, and I may as well turn him to account.”
 
Heading in the direction which seemed right, he tapped the of the mustang with his heels, and he broke at once into a , which, if rightly directed, was sure to carry him to his destination in a brief while.
 
Though it was too much for the young man to believe he was following the true course, he thought it was near enough for him to discover the variation before riding far. He ought to reach the of some which would so extend his view that he would catch the gleam of the camp fire of the cattlemen.
 
As the forward with that swinging gait which he was able to maintain for hours without , the rider glanced to the right and left, in front and rear, on guard lest he ran into unexpected danger, and guarding against the approach of one or more of his . His horse was , but the rider was disturbed now and then by his actions.
 
79
While going with his swift gait, he occasionally checked his speed so that, had the young Texan been a less , he would have pitched over his head. At such times he his ears, and snuffed and threw up his head, as though frightened at something. But strive all he could, Avon failed to discover the cause of this behavior. He could neither hear nor see anything to explain it.
 
Our young friend was so keenly on the alert that he was quick to notice that they were quite a in the plain. He drew the mustang down to a walk, and when at the highest point of the elevation, brought him to a stand-still.
 
No poor sailor, floating on a , ever strove harder to pierce the gloom in quest of a friendly light, than did Avon. His first glance in the direction which seemed to him to be right failed to show that which he longed to see. Then he slowly swept the horizon with the same searching .
 
Not the first star-like rewarded him. Blank darkness enclosed him on every 80hand. It was right above, below, to the right and left and to the front and rear.
 
“Well, I’ll be shot if this doesn’t beat everything!” was his , when he came to understand his helplessness; “it looks as if I would have done the folks a great deal more good if I had stayed with them.”
 
Slipping down from the back of his mustang, which he took care to hold by means of the halter, Avon pressed his ear to the earth, as is the practice of those in a similar situation.
 
At first he thought he detected the sounds of , but the next moment he knew it was only fancy. The better conductor in the form of the ground told him no more than did the gloom that surrounded him.
 
While thus engaged, the mustang at the rope, as if wishing to free himself. He must have felt that he was controlled by a strange hand, but his efforts were easily restrained.
 
As nearly as Avon could judge, he had travelled more than two miles since leaving the cabin, so that, provided he had followed 81the proper course, he must have passed half the distance. But if that wer............