Johnny hastily put away his wealth and eased himself up so that he could peer out through the branches.

He had not consciously feared the coming of strangers, yet now he felt his heart thumping noisily because of the clamor out in the yard.

While he looked, two horsemen rode past and stopped at the cabin.
Now Johnny had been telling himself what a godsend some new face would be to him, yet he did not rush out to welcome the callers and ask the news of the outside world which Cliff was so chary of giving.

He did not by any sound or movement declare his presence.

He simply craned and listened.
One of the men he could not see because of a great, overhanging limb that barred his vision.