ed. The rifle was heavy, but it was a more reliable
weapon than a pistol, and he rode off with it. The sun had dipped when
he started, the air was rapidly cooling, and after spending the day
sinking holes for fence posts in the scorching sun, he found the swift
motion and the little breeze that fanned his face pleasant. To the
northwest, a flush of vivid crimson glowed along the horizon, but the
sweep of grass was growing dim and a bluff he reached at length stood
out, a sharp-cut, dusky mass, against the fading light. He pulled up
his horse on its outskirts. A narrow trail led through the wood, its
entrance marked by a dark gap among the shadowy trees, and it somehow
looked forbidding. The bluff, however, stretched across his path; it
was getting late, and George was a little impatient of the caution he
had been forced to exercise. Laying his rifle ready across the saddle,
he sent his horse forward.

It was quite dark in the bluff, though here and there he could see a
glimmer of faint red and orange between the trees, and the stillness
had a slightly disturbing effect on him. Not a leaf moved, the beat of
his horse's hoofs rang sharply down the narrow trail above which the
thin birch branches met. He wanted to get out into the open, where he
could see about, as soon as possible. There was, however, no
ostensible cause for uneasiness and he rode on quietly, until he heard
a soft rustling among the slender trunks. Pulling up the horse, he
called out, and, as he half expected, got no answer. Then he cast a
swift glance ahead. There was a gleam of dim light not far away where
the trail led out of the bluff. Throwing the rifle to his shoulder,
George fired into the shadows.

The horse plunged violently and broke into a frightened gallop. George
heard a whistle and a sharper rustling, and rode toward the light at a
furious pace. Then his horse suddenly stumbled and came down. The
rifle flew out of George's hand, and he was hurled against a tree. The
next moment he felt himself rudely seized, and what he thought was a
jacket was wrapped about his head. Shaken by his fall, he could make
no effective resistance, and he was dragged a few yards through the
bush and flung into a wagon. He tried to pull the jacket from his
face, and failed; somebody brutally beat him down against the side of
the vehicle when he struggled to get up. He heard a whip crack, the
wagon swayed and jolted, and he knew the team was st