get them out.

When the drove stood as the hunchback wished it, he rode down to the
edge of the river, Jud and I following him. I felt the powerful
influence exerted by the courage of this man. He leaned over and patted
the silk shoulders of the Bay Eagle. "Good girl," he said, "good girl."
It was like a last caress, a word spoken in the ear of the loved one on
the verge of a struggle sure to be lost, the last whisper carrying all
the devotion of a lifetime. Did the man at heart believe we could
succeed? If the cattle were lost, did he expect to get out with his
life? I think not.

Against this, the Cardinal and his huge naked rider contrasted
strangely. They represented brute strength marching out with brute
fearlessness into an unthinking struggle. Fellows and mates, these, the
bronze giant and his horse. They might go under the yellow water of the
Valley River, but it would be the last act of the last struggle.

As for me, I think I failed to realise the magnitude of this desperate
move. I saw but hazily what the keen instinct of the hunchback saw so
well,--all the possibilities of disaster. I went on that day as an aide
goes with his general into a charge. I lacked the sense of understanding
existing between the other men and their horses, but I had in its stead
an all-powerful faith in the eccentric El Mahdi. No matter what
happened, he would come out of it somehow.

Domestic cattle will usually follow a horse. It was the plan that I
should go first, to lead fifty steers put in with me. Then Jud should
follow to keep the bunch moving, while Ump and the two ferrymen fed the
line, a few at a time, keeping it unbroken, and as thin as possible.

This was the only plan offering any shadow of hope. We could not swim
the cattle in small bunches because each bunch would require one or two
drivers, and the best horse would go down on his third trip. That course
was out of the question, and this was the only other.

I think Ump had another object in putting me before the drove. If
trouble came, I would not be caught in the tangle of cattle. I rode into
the river, and they put the fifty leaders in behind me. This time El
Mahdi lowered himself easily into the water and began to swim. I held
him in as much as I could, and looked back over my shoulder.

The muleys dropped from the sod bank, went under to their black noses,
came up, shook the water from their ears, and struck out, following the
tail of the horse. They all