he bench and came on,
a dense mass, horning and shouldering wildly. It was soon so close that
the horses could be distinguished from the cattle. Then it gained on the
buckboard to such an extent that the little girl could make out, through
the smoke and dust that whirled before it, animals that she knew. But
they were changed. Was that old Kate, the cultivator mare, with bulging
eyes and lolling tongue? Or young Liney, the favorite daughter of a
well-loved mother, whose horns cut the grass as she fled? Or Napoleon's
dusky son, Dan, near the rails? Even above the sound of their feet and
the roar of the fire, she could hear them bawling from weariness and
fear as they charged ruthlessly on toward the buckboard.

The blue mare was failing in her stride and acting more obstinately
than ever. Now to the right, now to the left, she turned, and it was
with difficulty that the biggest brother kept her in the road. She
answered every blow on her lathered hindquarters with an angry hump. The
biggest brother, as he pounded her mercilessly, felt that escape was
impossible.

Beside him, quiet and brave, sat the little girl. A spot of scarlet
showed on either cheek, her eyes were alight, her figure tense. If she
felt any terror, she did not show it. She knew how rapidly the blue mare
could travel, and she trusted her pet to bring them to safety.

As the buckboard struck the meadow road, the biggest brother gave a
hurried glance over his shoulder to see how far behind was the herd.
"Never saw so many animals all together in my life," he said. "They'll
kill us sure if they catch us. And that fire's drivin' 'em at an awful
clip. My God!"

The cry burst from him in dismay as a huge, burning tumbleweed, as high
as a wagon-wheel and as round, rolled through a gap in the stampede and
whirled past them, lighting the grass as it sped. A second and a third
followed. Soon a dozen brands had shot forward, heralding the crackling
fiend behind. The blue mare shied wildly when the weeds came close, and
each time the buckboard almost capsized. She was lagging more than ever,
as if waiting for the animals that were scarcely a half mile away.

There was fire all around now, and smoke and cinders floated over the
biggest brother and the little girl, choking them and shutting out the
road ahead. The wind, as it brushed by, seemed to sear their faces with
its torrid breath. Suddenly, the dust and smoke clearing to the right,
the little girl clutched