"He didn't," said Buck Daniels. "I'd fixed things so's he couldn't get
started with Satan for some time. And before he could have Satan on my
trail I'd jut a long stretch behind me because Long Bess was racin'
every step. The lay of the land was with me. It was pretty level, and on
level goin' Long Bess is almost as fast as Satan; but on rocky goin'
Satan is like a goat--nothin' stops him! And I was ridin' Long Bess like
to bust her heart, straight towards McCauley's. We wasn't more'n a mile
away when I thought--the wind was behind me, you see--that I heard a
sort of far off whistling down the wind! My God!"

He could not go on for a moment, and Kate Cumberland sat with parted
lips, twisting her fingers together and then tearing them apart once
more.

"Well, that mile was the worst in my life. I thought maybe the man I'd
sent on ahead hadn't been able to leave me a relay at McCauley's, and if
he hadn't I knew I'd die somewhere in the hills beyond. And they looked
as black as dead men, and all sort of grinnin' down at me.

"But when I got to McCauley's, there stood a hoss right in front of the
house. It didn't take me two second to make the saddle-change. And then
I was off agin!"

A sigh of relief came from Byrne and Kate.

"That hoss was a beauty. Not long-legged like Bess, nor half so fast,
but he was jest right for the hills. Climbed like a goat and didn't let
up. Up and up we goes. The wind blows the clouds away when we gets to
the top of the climb and I looks down into the valley all white in the