Come along--on tip-toe." Tom led the way through the darkness, not halting until they were well away from the Mexican.
"Now, wait a moment, until we get our bearings from the stars," Tom proposed.

"Then we'll make a straight, fast, soft hike to the telegraph station." "Only twenty miles away, over the boulders," murmured Hazelton.
"This is where our past physical training comes in finely," Tom rejoined.

He looked up at the sky, pointing to and naming several of the fixed stars.
"Now, as we know our course, we can hardly, go astray," Reade suggested.

"Ready! Forward march!" Tom took the lead in this, as he did in nearly everything else.
For more than an hour the young engineers trudged ahead.

When at last they halted for breath they had covered at least three miles of their way.
"Nicolas will feel insulted when he wakes, I'm afraid," suggested Hazelton.
"I'm afraid he will.