We've got to get to the mount'in before we can see them." He closed the glass with a snap and swung it over his shoulder.

Then he pointed toward the camp.
"Take Joanne down there," he commanded.

"Watch the break we came through, an' wait for me.

I'm goin' up on the mount'in an' take a look!" The last words came back over his shoulder as he started on a trot down the slope.

Only once before had Aldous seen MacDonald employ greater haste, and that was on the night of the attack on Joanne.