fered as much as he was capable of bearing at the hands of
the cattle thieves. Now he meant to turn on them; but he would be at
their mercy in the open.

His weariness seemed to fall away from him to give place to grim fury
as he broke into a run, and he did not look back for a while. When he
did so, the figures had grown larger; one could see that they were
moving swiftly; and the bluff was still far away. George believed that
he had been noticed and he strove to quicken his pace. The beat of
hoofs was in his ears when he next looked around; the three horsemen
were converging, growing more distinct; and the bluff was still a mile
ahead. He was stumbling and reeling, his hat fell off, and he dared
not stop to pick it up.

A mile was covered; he would not look back again, though the thud of
hoofs had swelled into a sharp staccato drumming. With face fiercely
set and the perspiration dripping from him, he held on, scorched and
partly dazzled by the glare. The wood was getting closer; he thought
it was scarcely a quarter of a mile off. His heart throbbed madly, the
pain in his side had grown excruciating; but somehow he must keep
going. His eyes smarted with the moisture that ran into them, his lips
and mouth were salty; he was suffering torment; but he kept on his feet.

At length, when the trees were close ahead, a faint smudge of smoke
appeared on the edge of them; there was a report like a whipcrack, and
he stopped in despair. His last refuge was held against him. Then, as
he turned in savage desperation to meet the rustlers' onslaught with
the ax, he saw there were only two horsemen, who pulled up suddenly,
about sixty yards away. The third was not visible, but his horse,
which had fallen, was struggling in the grass. As the meaning of this
dawned on George he broke in a wild, breathless yell of exultation;
there was another crack behind him, and the two horsemen wheeled. They
were not too soon, for a mounted man in khaki with something that
flashed across his saddle was riding hard from behind the bluff to cut
them off. Another appeared, going at a furious gallop, and George
stood watching while the four figures grew smaller upon the prairie.

Turning at a shout he saw Flett and Edgar walking toward him, and he
went with them to the fallen horse. A man lay, gray in face, among the
grass, held down by the body of the animal which partly rested upon him.

"Get me out," he begged hoarsely. "Leg's br