During the day they kept gazing steadily into the gulf of space that surrounded them, carefully scrutinizing the timber and the virgin brush which might form a covert; and at night they were sullen, expectant; every man wearing his gun when he rolled himself in his blanket.
It was not fear that had seized them.

They were rugged, hardy, courageous men who had looked death in the face many times, defying it, mocking it; and no visible danger could have disturbed them.
But this danger was not visible; it was stealthy, secret, lurking near them, always threatening, always expected.

It might stalk behind them; it might be flanking them as they rode; or it might creep upon them in the night.
Blackburn had fallen into a vicious mood.

His eyes glowed with the terrible, futile rage that surged in his veins, it was a reflection of a wrath that grew more and more intolerant as the days passed and the danger that portended did not materialize.
"Boss," he said to Lawler on the tenth day following that on which Garvin had reported the presence of the riders behind them; "the boys is gettin' jumpy.

They're givin' one another short answers, an' they're growlin' about things they never noticed before.
"I'm gettin' fed up on this thing, too.