She paused awhile in the shadows, wondering what she had better do next.

After all, it would be awkward to investigate the interior of the little cabin that squatted there so silently under the moon.

She hesitated to dismount.
Frankly, Mary V felt much safer with a fleet horse under her, and she was afraid that she might not be so lucky next time in mounting.

So she began to reconnoiter warily on horseback.
She rode up to the window of the little shed, and saw that it was empty.
She rode inside the corral and made a complete circuit of the fence, and saw nothing whatever of Johnny's saddle and bridle.

They would be somewhere around, surely, if he were here.