Excitedly the girl ran to Howland, thrusting him back with her hands.
"Go! Go!" she cried tensely.

"Hurry back to the cabin! Lock your door--and don't come out again to-night! Oh, please, if you love me, please, go--" The voices were approaching.

Howland fancied that he could distinguish dark shadows between the thinned walls of the forest.

He laughed softly.
"I am not going to run, little girl," he whispered.

"See ?" He drew his revolver so that it gleamed in the light of the stars.
With a frightened gasp the girl pulled him into the thick bushes beside the path until they stood a dozen paces from where those who were coming down the trail would pass.