so peculiarly different in promise from all he had
experienced, that he waited the moment of action with thrilling
intensity. In him stirred long, brooding wrath at these border
raiders--affection for Belding, and keen desire to avenge the outrages
he had suffered--warm admiration for the cold, implacable Ladd and his
absolute fearlessness, and a curious throbbing interest in the old,
much-discussed and never-decided argument as to whether Blanco Sol was
fleeter, stronger horse than Blanco Diablo. Gale felt that he was to
see a race between these great rivals--the kind of race that made men
and horses terrible.

Ladd rode a quarter of a mile out upon the flat before anything
happened. Then a whistle rent the still, cold air. A horse had seen
or scented Blanco Sol. The whistle was prolonged, faint, but clear.
It made the blood thrum in Gale's ears. Sol halted. His head shot up
with the old, wild, spirited sweep. Gale leveled his glass at the
patch of mesquites. He saw the raiders running to an open place,
pointing, gesticulating. The glass brought them so close that he saw
the dark faces. Suddenly they broke and fled back among the trees.
Then he got only white and dark gleams of moving bodies. Evidently
that moment was one of boots, guns, and saddles for the raiders.

Lowering the glass, Gale saw that Blanco Sol had started forward again.
His gait was now a canter, and he had covered another quarter of a mile
before horses and raiders appeared upon the outskirts of the mesquites.
Then Blanco Sol stopped. His shrill, ringing whistle came distinctly to
Gale's ears. The raiders were mounted on dark horses, and they stood
abreast in a motionless line. Gale chuckled as he appreciated what a
puzzle the situation presented for them. A lone horseman in the middle
of the valley did not perhaps seem so menacing himself as the
possibilities his presence suggested.

Then Gale saw a raider gallop swiftly from the group toward the farther
outlet of the valley. This might have been owing to characteristic
cowardice; but it was more likely a move of the raiders to make sure of
retreat. Undoubtedly Ladd saw this galloping horseman. A few waiting
moments ensued. The galloping horseman reached the slope, began to
climb. With naked eyes Gale saw a puff of white smoke spring out of
the rocks. Then the raider wheeled his plunging horse back to the
level, and went racing wildly down the valley.

The compact bunch of ba