Not that he suspected, not that he had not relaxed his
guard and his vigilance the moment he caught sight of the flicker of
light through the mass of great boulders, but the lifelong habit of
watchfulness remained with him.
Even when he spoke face to face with a man, he never seemed to be
giving more than half his attention, for might not someone else
approach if he lost himself in order to listen to any one voice? He
had covered half the length of the room with that soundless step
before she heard, and rose with a glad cry: "Pierre!"
Meeting that calm blue eye, she checked herself mightily.
"A hard ride?" she asked.
"Nothing much."
He took the rock nearest the fire and then raised a glance of inquiry.
"I got cold," she said, "and rolled it over."
He considered her and then the rock, not with suspicion, but as if he
held the matter in abeyance for further consideration; a hunted man
and a hunter must keep an eye for little things, must carry an armed
hand and an armed heart even among friends. As for Jacqueline, her
color had risen, and she leaned hurriedly over a pan in which meat
was frying.
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