ty was experienced in detaching sufficient to obtain
hand hold. Working silently, not knowing what watchers might be already
stationed without, they succeeded in loosening enough of the rock to
allow them to crawl through, lying breathless in the open. Accustomed as
they were to the darkness, they could yet see little. They were upon the
opposite side from the town, with no gleam of lights visible, prairie
and sky blending together into spectral dimness, with no sound audible
but the continued quarrel in the front room of the jail. Keith crept
along to the end of the building from where he could perceive the lights
of the town twinkling dimly through the intense blackness. Evidently the
regular evening saturnalia had not yet begun, although there was already
semblance of life about the numerous saloons, and an occasional shout
punctuated the stillness. A dog howled in the distance, and the pounding
of swift hoofs along the trail told of fresh arrivals. An hour later and
the single street of Carson City would be alive with humanity, eager for
any excitement, ready for any wild orgy, if only once turned loose. That
it would be turned loose, and also directed, the man lying on his face
in the grass felt fully assured. He smiled grimly, wishing he might
behold "Black Bart's" face when he should discover the flight of his
intended victims. But there was no time to lose; every moment gained,
added to their chance of safety.

"Are those horses tied there by the blacksmith's shop?" he asked,
pointing.

The negro stared in the direction indicated, confused by the shadows
thrown by the dim lights.

"I reck'n dey am, Massa Jack; I done make out fo'."

"Then two of them must belong to us; come on, boy."

He ran forward, crouching behind every chance cover, and keeping well
back behind the line of shacks. A slight depression in the prairie
helped conceal their movements, and neither spoke until they were
crouching together beside the wall of the shop. Then Neb, teeth
chattering, managed to blurt forth:

"Fo' de Lawd's sake, yer don't actually mean ter steal dem hosses?"

Keith glanced about at the other's dim, black shadow.

"Sure not; just borrow 'em."

"But dat's a hangin' job in dis yere country, Massa Jack."

"Sure it is if they catch us. But we'd be strung up anyway, and we can't
be hung twice. Besides there is a chance for us with the ponies, and
none at all without. An hour's start in the saddle, Neb, and this bunc