He suddenly saw Tom stir, and he came from his state of languor.
The exciting question was solved at last. The man would not sit
all night absolutely immovable. There could be no doubt of the
fact that he had raised an arm, and that his figure had
straightened. Then he stood up, full height, remained motionless
for perhaps ten seconds, and then suddenly glided away among the
bushes.

Henry knew what this meant. Tom had heard something moving in
the thickets, and, like a good sentinel, be had gone to
investigate. A rabbit, doubtless, or perhaps a sneaking raccoon.
Henry rose to a sitting position, and drew his own rifle across
his knees. He would watch while Tom was gone, and then lie would
sink quietly back, not letting his comrade know that lie had
taken his place.

The faintest of winds began to stir among the thickets. Light
clouds drifted before the moon. Henry, sitting with his rifle
across his knees, and Shif'less Sol, asleep in the shadows, were
invisible, but Henry saw beyond the circle of darkness that
enveloped them into the grayish light that fell over the bushes.
He marked the particular point at which he expected Tom Ross to
appear, a slight opening that held out invitation for the passage
of a man.

He waited a long time, ten minutes, twenty, a half hour, and the
sentinel did not return. Henry came abruptly out of his dreamy
state. He felt with all the terrible thrill of certainty that
what happened to Long Jim and Paul had happened also to Silent
Tom Ross. He stood erect, a tense, tall figure, alarmed, but not