Furst time I came over yere long with Lacy, I wrote all these yere things down." Conversation ceased, the drear depression of the scene resting heavily on the minds of all three.

Moore sat humped shapelessly in his seat, permitting the horses to toil on wearily, the wagon rumbling along across the hard packed sand, the wheels leaving scarcely a mark behind.
Sikes stared gloomily out on his side, the rifle still between his knees, his jaws working vigorously on a fresh chew of tobacco.

Stella looked at the two men, their faces now clearly revealed in the brightening dawn, but the survey brought little comfort.

Sikes was evidently of wild blood--a half-breed, if his swarthy skin and high cheek bones meant any characteristics of race--scarcely more than a savage by nature, and rendered even more decadent by the ravages of drink.

He was sober enough now, but this only left him the more morose and sullen, his bloodshot eyes ugly and malignant.