The hoof-beats softened and ceased.
"Gone ?" whispered Rude.
"Gone.

But wait," whispered Jones.

He knew the savage nature, and he knew how to wait.

After a long time, he cautiously crawled out of the thicket and searched the surroundings with a plainsman's eye.

He climbed the slope and saw the clouds of dust, the near one small, the far one large, which told him all he needed to know.
"Comanches ?" queried Adams, with a quaver in his voice.