h that throughout its width the
valley was a black sea of tossing water. Before her the bank was very
close and she jerked her horse toward a point where the perpendicular
sides of a cutbank gave place to a narrow plane that slanted steeply
upward. It seemed to the girl that the steep ascent would be
impossible for the horses but it was the only chance. She glanced
backward. The Texan was close behind, and following him were the
others, their horses wallowing to their bellies. She had reached the
hill and so steep was its pitch that her horse seemed perpendicular to
the earth's surface. She leaned over the horn and twisted her fingers
into his mane as the animal, his feet clear of the water, clawed and
scrambled like a cat to gain the top. Another moment and he had pulled
himself over the edge and the girl leaped to the ground. The Texan had
not followed to the top but had halted his horse at the edge of the
water that was mounting steadily higher. Bat swung in with his pack
horse and with his quirt Tex forced them up the embankment. Endicott's
horse was all but swimming. The water came above the man's knees as
the animal fought for footing. The Texan leaned far out and, grasping
the bridle, drew him in to the bank and quirted him to the top. Then,
as the three watched, he headed his own horse upward. Scarcely had the
animal come clear of the water when the eager watchers saw that
something was wrong.

"De cinch--she bus'!" cried the half-breed excitedly. "Dat dam' Purdy
cut de cinch an' A'm trade Tex mine for ride de outlaw, an' we trade
back. _Voila_!" As the man talked, he jerked the coiled rope from his
saddle and rushed to the edge. Alice, too, crowded to the bank, her
hands tight clenched as she saw the man, the saddle gone from under
him, clinging desperately to the bridle reins, his body awash in the
black waters. Saw also that his weight on the horse's head was causing
the animal to quit the straight climb and to plunge and turn
erratically. It was evident that both horse and rider must be hurled
into the flood. The fury of the storm had passed. The rumble of
thunder was distant now. The flashes of lightning came at greater
intervals, and with a pale glow instead of the dazzling brilliance of
the nearer flashes. Through a great rift in the cloud-bank the moon
showed, calm and serene above the mad rush of black waters.

For a single instant Alice gazed into the up-turned face of the Texa