Thus thinking, impatient of delay, and painfully cramped by his position, he was about to rise when the long silence was broken by a low cuckoo call close at hand.

Was it a signal or the note of some strange bird?
As Ridge hesitated, the call was answered from the other side of the road.
Again it sounded from the side on which he lay; then, from the opposite side a man's head came slowly into view, low down among the grass stems.

After hasty glances both up and down the road it was withdrawn, and the cuckoo notes were again exchanged.

Then two of the baffled beef-riders rose boldly to their feet and stepped out in full view, close beside the dead horse.

The young trooper could not distinguish their words; but, from their angry gestures, they were discussing his disappearance and the advisability of a further attempt to capture him.
At the same moment his own thoughts were of a most conflicting nature.
One of the men was covered by his rifle, and his finger was on its ready trigger, but he hesitated to pull it.