"It's very quiet down there," she said, stooping and listening over the roughly-boarded floor that formed the ceiling of the room below.

"I wonder what's going on." In the belief that this was a delicate hint for his return to the party he had left, Hale rose, but the girl passed him hurriedly, and, opening the door, cast a quick glance into the stable beyond.
"Just as I reckoned--the horses are gone too.

They've skedaddled," she said blankly.
Hale did not reply.

In his embarrassment a moment ago the idea of taking an equally sudden departure had flashed upon him.

Should he take this as a justification of that impulse, or how?
He stood irresolutely gazing at the girl, who turned and began to descend the stairs silently.