. The electricity in
their hides had made a sort of blue haze--phosphorescent, they call
it--and it gave 'em an awful look. Of course, the boys hadn't let them
start a stampede without doing anything to stop 'em. They were riding
round 'em, yelling and shooting into the air, but on they came.

"Well, it was no place for me and Jim. It began to look to me as if that
doctor was going to have his trip for nothing, but what could I do? I
couldn't go off and leave Jim, and when I tried to pick him up he fought
me so I had to drop him. 'Twouldn't have done much good anyhow because
there was no place to go. So I said to myself: 'Sit tight, old man, and if
you can't die game, die as game as you can.'

"On they came like a lot of mad things. Then, all at once, when I'd about
given up hope, the boys got 'em to milling. You know how they do that? Get
'em started to going round and round instead of straight ahead and the
fools will go till they drop in their tracks. When I saw 'em doing that I
knew that Jim and I weren't slated for Heaven that night so I sat still
and enjoyed the sight.

"It was one wild sight. You can read about stampedes till your head aches
but you've got to see one to know how she feels."

"What an interesting life you've had, Marc, and all I've done was to drive
a Red Cross ambulance around Chicago and win a few golf trophies,"
murmured Polly, sleepily.

"Well, that depends. Perhaps it's been interesting, but it ain't been
easy."

They sat in silence for a while and then Scott saw that the girl had
fallen asleep. He smiled as he put more wood on the fire.

"Funny that she and I should find each other out of all the world," he
meditated. "Just one nice girl and one no-account chap drawn toward each
other. Some folks call it Fate. I didn't mean to do it and maybe I'm going
to wish I hadn't--but just now I'm satisfied."

CHAPTER XVI

TOM DOES A MARATHON

That Jimmy Adams survived the operation of probing to which he was
subjected by Li Yow was to Tom Johnson evidence of an almost miraculous
skill on the part of the Chinese doctor. Tom knew very little of
operations. His life had been a normal one and the grisly sight which he
was called upon to witness would have altogether unmanned him had it not
been for Mrs. Van's timely nip. As it was, he came out of the room
extremely depressed.

Depression was a mood which in Tom Johnson usually led to action. In this
case his first move was to visit C