an

He'd be an idiot to let them stay he thought, but he couldn't send them on, either.

He caught her by an arm and helped her into the kitchen.

It looked as Gavin had first seen it years ago, on those nights when he slept alone by his campfire and waked suddenly to the hoot of an owl or the rustle of a blade of grass in the moon's wind -- a savage land, untenanted and brooding, too strong to be broken by the will of men.

He had been carrying an Enfield rifle and a holstered navy cap-and-ball pistol.

Evidently this was a precaution so that mounts would be available in an emergency.

The bullet had torn through the flesh just above the knee, inflicting an ugly gash that was forming a pool of blood on the floor.

Oso gave me an unruffled look.

More of an agricultural nation, they have relied on their warriors only for defense and for survival in the endless wars of the plains.

I heard the whir of an ax and a Canadian's face burst apart in a bloody spray.

I saw Little Billy rise and fire almost point blank and an Indian's face became shattered flesh and bone.

Above me a dark rider was whipping his pony with a quirt in an attempt to hurdle the bales.

`` I saw your fire '', she said, speaking slowly, making an effort to control her anger.

He had an uneasy feeling about it.

There was an artificial lake just out of sight in the first stand of trees, fed by a half dozen springs that popped out of the ground above the hillside orchard.

It took them an hour before they came to the first houses of Kelseyville.

He spoke to me in a gruff voice, an affectation which quite belied his personality.

The river was only a few blocks away but an unbroken line of piers prevented me from seeing it.

Its front was windowless, but irregularities in the masonry might be an indication that windows, now blinded, had once looked out upon the street.

I'm an outsider.

It was over an hour before their escape was discovered, but still the news that Barton was free flashed across the central portion of the state.

The office was of logs, four rooms, each heated by an iron stove.

The gravel was the bed of an ancient river, buckled in some prehistoric upheaval of earth.

On her bureau lay a small, brass ornament of simple design and faded engraving -- an object which, Pamela believed now, had been the property of her great-grandfather, Major Hiram Munroe Culver.

The forest was open and freely welcoming, extending an enchanted hand.

It was not, thought Pamela, such an evil place after all.