Ellen turned her back on him.

At length, when he left, she went to her father's corner and found that, as far as she was able to see, Colter had taken neither papers nor clothes, but only the gold.

Perhaps, however, she had been mistaken, for she had not observed Colter's departure closely enough to know whether or not he carried a package.

She missed only the gold.
Her father's papers, old and musty, were scattered about, and these she gathered up to slip in her own bundle.
Colter, or one of the men, had saddled Spades, and he was now tied to the corral fence, champing his bit and pounding the sand.

Ellen wrapped bread and meat inside her coat, and after tying this behind her saddle she was ready to go.