wind from the
scent of horses.

His own kind, yet he was worried, for he connected horses inevitably
with the thought of man. Nevertheless, he decided to explore, and coming
warily over a rise of ground he saw, in the hollow beyond, a whole troop
of horses without a man in sight. He was too wise to jump to conclusions
but slipped back from his watch-post and ran in a long semi-circle about
the herd, but having made out that there was no cowpuncher nearby, he
came back to his original place of vantage and resumed his observations.

A beautiful black stallion wandered up-wind from the rest and another,
younger horse, was on the other side of the herd. Between was a raggedly
assembled group of mares old and young, with leggy yearlings,
deer-footed colts, and more than one time-worn stallion. It was a motley
assembly. The colors ranged from piebald to grey and there was a great
diversity in stature. Presently the black stallion neighed softly,
whereat the rest of the herd bunched closely together, the mares with
the foals on the side, and all heads turning towards the black who now
galloped to a hilltop, surveyed the horizon and presently dropped his
head to graze again.

This was a signal to the others. They spread out again carelessly, but
Alcatraz was beginning to put two and two together in his thoughts. The
two stallions were obviously guards, but what should they be guarding
against in the broad light of day except that terrible destroyer who
hunts as well at noon as at midnight--man! Inspiration came to Alcatraz.
The difference of color and stature, the unkempt manes and tails, the
wild eyes, were all telling a single story, now. These were not servants
to man, and since they were not his servants they must be enemies, for
that was the law of the world. The great enemy dominated, and where he
could not dominate he killed. And the herd feared the same power which
Alcatraz feared; instantly they became to him brothers and sisters, and
he stepped boldly into view.

The result was startling. From the hilltop the black stallion whinnied
shrill and short and in a twinkling the whole group was in motion
scurrying north. Alcatraz looked in wonder and saw the black fall in
behind the rest and range across the rear biting the flanks of older
horses who found it difficult to keep the hot pace. With this
accomplished and when the herd was stolidly compacted before his
driving, the black skirted around the whole group and wit