No, not that--not that! They must hide their trail, leave behind no faintest trace of passage for these hounds to follow.

Yet how could the miracle be accomplished?
Out from the mists of tortured memory came, as a faint hope, a dim recollection of that narrow gully cutting straight down across the trail, over which the runaway had crashed in full gallop.

That surely could not be far back, and was of sufficient depth to hide them in the darkness.

He was uncertain how far it extended, but at some time it had been a water-course and must have reached the river.

And the river would hide their trail! A new hope sprang into his eyes.