appeared. His air of
absolute self-confidence in his ability to handle a situation compelled
the confidence of others.

"Aren't your nerves ever shaken? Aren't you ever afraid?" she asked.

Tex smiled: "Nerve ain't in not bein' afraid," he answered evasively,
"but in not lettin' folks know when you're afraid."

Another gate was opened, and as they passed around the scrub-capped
spur of a ridge that projected into the widening valley, the girl drew
her horse up sharply and pointed ahead.

"Oh! A little lake!" she cried enthusiastically. "See how the
moonlight shimmers on the tiny waves."

Heavy and low from the westward came an ominous growl of thunder.

"Yes. An' there'll be somethin' besides moonlight a-shimmerin' around
here directly. That ain't exactly a lake. It's Johnson's irrigation
reservoir. If we could get about ten miles below here before the storm
hits, we can hole up in a rock cave 'til she blows over. The creek
valley narrows down to a canyon where it cuts through the last ridge of
mountains.

"Hit 'er up a little, Bat. We'll try an' make the canyon!"

A flash of lightning illumined the valley, and glancing upward, Alice
saw that the mass of black clouds was almost overhead. The horses were
forced into a run as the hills reverberated to the mighty roll of the
thunder. They were following a well-defined bridle trail and scarcely
slackened their pace as they splashed in and out of the water where the
trail crossed and recrossed the creek. One lightning flash succeeded
another with such rapidity that the little valley was illuminated
almost to the brightness of day, and the thunder reverberated in one
continuous roar.

With the buildings of Johnson's ranch left safely behind, Alice's
concern for Endicott's well-being cooled perceptibly.

"He needn't to have been so hateful, just because I laughed at him,"
she thought, and winced at a lightning flash. Her lips pressed
tighter. "I hate thunder-storms--to be out in them. I bet we'll all
be soaked and--" There was a blinding flash of light, the whole valley
seemed filled with a writhing, twisting rope of white fire, and the
deafening roar of thunder that came simultaneously with the flash made
the ground tremble. It was as though the world had exploded beneath
their feet, and directly in the forefront the girl saw a tall dead
cottonwood split in half and topple sidewise. And in the same instant
she caught a glimpse of Endicott's fac