k fury, and he continued to curse and command. They fought for the
possession of the gun. But Joel seemed to have superhuman strength. His
hold on the gun could not be broken. Moreover, he kept straining to
point the gun at his father. Lucy screamed. Creech yelled hoarsely. But
the boy was beyond reason or help, and he was beyond over powering!
Lucy saw him bend his arm in spite of the desperate hold upon it and
fire the gun. Creech's hoarse entreaties ceased as his hold on Joel
broke. He staggered. His arms went up with a tragic, terrible gesture.
He fell. Joel stood over him, shaking and livid, but he showed only the
vaguest realization of the deed. His actions were instinctive. He was
the animal that had clawed himself free. Further proof of his
aberration stood out in the action of sheathing his gun; he made the
motion to do so, but he only dropped it in the grass.

Sight of that dropped gun broke Lucy's spell of horror, which had kept
her silent but for one scream. Suddenly her blood leaped like fire in
her veins. She measured the distance to Sage King. Joel was turning.
Then Lucy darted at the King, reached him, and, leaping, was half up on
him when he snorted and jumped, not breaking her hold, but keeping her
from getting up. Then iron hands clutched her and threw her, like an
empty sack, to the grass.

Joel Creech did not say a word. His distorted face had the deriding
scorn of a superior being. Lucy lay flat on her back, watching him. Her
mind worked swiftly. She would have to fight for her body and her life.
Her terror had fled with her horror. She was not now afraid of this
demented boy. She meant to fight, calculating like a cunning Indian,
wild as a trapped wildcat.

Lucy lay perfectly still, for she knew she had been thrown near the
spot where the gun lay. If she got her hands on that gun she would kill
Joel. It would be the action of an instant. She watched Joel while he
watched her. And she saw that he had his foot on the rope round Sage
King's neck. The King never liked a rope. He was nervous. He tossed his
head to get rid of it. Creech, watching Lucy all the while, reached for
the rope, pulled the King closer and closer, and untied the knot. The
King stood then, bridle down and quiet. Instead of a saddle he wore a
blanket strapped round him.

It seemed that Lucy located the gun without turning her eyes away from
Joel's. She gathered all her force--rolled over swiftly--again--got her
hands on the gu