Still less did they know that, with the early
singing birds, a careless horseman, emerging from the trail as the
dust-stained buggy dashed past him, glanced at it with a puzzled air,
uttered a quiet whistle of surprise, and then, wheeling his horse, gayly
cantered after it.
CHAPTER V.
In the exercise of his arduous profession, Jack Hamlin had sat up all
night in the magnolia saloon of the Divide, and as it was rather early
to go to bed, he had, after his usual habit, shaken off the sedentary
attitude and prepared himself for sleep by a fierce preliminary
gallop in the woods. Besides, he had been a large winner, and on those
occasions he generally isolated himself from his companions to avoid
foolish altercations with inexperienced players. Even in fighting
Jack was fastidious, and did not like to have his stomach for a real
difficulty distended and vitiated by small preliminary indulgences.
He was just emerging from the wood into the highroad when a buggy dashed
past him, containing a man and a woman. The woman wore a thick veil; the
man was almost undistinguishable from dust. The glimpse was momentary,
but dislike has a keen eye, and in that glimpse Mr. Hamlin recognized
Van Loo. The situation was equally clear. The bent heads and averted
faces, the dust collected in the heedlessness of haste, the early
hour,--indicating a night-long flight,--all made it plain to him that
Van Loo was running away with some woman.
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