did not hurry. Any moment a band of horses
might appear, and he wanted always to have plenty of spare room to ride
across to left or right. Once they got the lead of him or even with
him it would be almost impossible to turn them.

Not, however, until he had surmounted the next ridge did he catch sight
of any more wild horses. Then he faced several miles of almost level
valley, with the only perceptible slope toward the left. For the first
time he saw all the drivers. They were holding a fairly straight line.
As Pan had anticipated, the drive was slowly leading away from the
wash, diagonally toward the great basin that constituted the bottom of
the valley floor. Bands of horses were running south, bobbing under
the dust clouds. There were none within a mile of Pan. The other men,
beyond the position of Pan's father, would soon be called upon to do
some riding.

As Pan kept on at a fast trot, he watched in all directions, expecting
to see horses come up out of a hollow or over a ridge; also he took a
quick glance every now and then in the direction of his comrades. They
were working ahead of him, more and more to the left. Therefore a wide
gap soon separated Pan from his father.

This occasioned him uneasiness because they would soon be down on a
level, where palls of dust threatened to close over the whole valley,
and it would be impossible to see any considerable distance. If the
wild horses then took a notion to wheel and run back up the valley the
drive would yield great results.

Suddenly, way over close to the wash Pan espied a string of horses
emerging from the thin haze of dust. He galloped down and across to
intercept them. As he drew closer he was surprised to see they were in
a dead run. These horses were unusually wild, as if they had been
frightened. They appeared bent on running Pan down, and he had to
resort to firing his gun to turn them. It was a heavy forty-five
caliber, the report of which was loud. Then after they had veered, he
had to race back across a good deal more than his territory to keep
them from going round him.

At last they headed back into the dusty-curtained, black-streaked zone
which constituted the bowl of the valley. This little race had warmed
Sorrel. He had entered into the spirit of the drive. Pan found that
the horse sighted wild horses more quickly than he, and wanted to chase
them all.

Pan rode a mile to the left, somewhat up hill and also forward.