But the Ring Tailed Panther was not sanguine about a free passage, nor did he seem to care.
"It's likely that the Mexican bands are out ridin'," he said.

"Cos ain't no fool, an' he'll be on the lookout for us.

There's more timber as you come toward San Antonio, an' there'll be a lot of chances for ambushes." "I believe you are hoping for one," said Ned.
The Ring Tailed Panther did not answer, but he looked upon this young friend of his of whom he thought so much, and his dark face parted in one of the broadest smiles that Ned had ever seen.
"I ain't runnin' away from the chance of it," he replied.
They saw a little later a belt of timber to their right.

Ned's experience told him that it masked the bed of a creek, probably flowing to the San Antonio River, and he noticed, although they were at some distance, that the trees seemed to be of unusually fine growth.

This fact first attracted his attention, but he lost sight of it when he saw a glint of unusually bright light among the trunks.