He shifted his fingers to the lock and trigger of his rifle, and looked at the sleeping three whose figures were almost hidden, although they were not a yard away.

He felt that they should be awake and ready but in waking, Grosvenor, at least, might make enough noise to draw the warriors upon them at once.
"They have shifted their course a little," whispered Tayoga, "and it leads to our right.

Now they change back again, and now they keep turning toward the left.

I think they will pass eight or ten yards from us, which will be as good as five hundred or a thousand." The white man slowly raised his rifle, but did not cock it.

That action would have made a clicking sound, sharp and clear in the fog, but the quick hands were ready for instant use.