He was a fearless rider, but he had the fault of saving his mount, and to kill a wild horse was a tragedy for him.

He would much rather have hunted alone, and he had been alone on the trail of the stallion Wildfire when the Stewarts had joined him.
Lin Slone awoke next morning and rolled out of his blanket at his usual early hour.

But he was not early enough to say good-by to the Stewarts.
They were gone.
The fact surprised him and somehow relieved him.

They had left him more than his share of the outfit, and perhaps that was why they had slipped off before dawn.

They knew him well enough to know that he would not have accepted it.