whole countryside had assembled to witness the first race. There were
fewer riders in each chase as the novelty wore off but the days were few
when the owner failed to take the dogs out for a run. Wolfhounds run
only by sight and coyotes are slippery prey, doubling and twisting on
their trails to throw their pursuers off, so the result was always in
doubt and every chase did not yield a coyote pelt.

After that first day Breed did not wait for the dogs to draw near but
started off the instant he found that they were coming his way. It was
Shady's habit of daylight traveling that led Breed into grave danger
within a week after the dog pack had made their first run. He followed
Shady down the bed of a gulch which screened their movements from prying
eyes but at the same time served to shut out all the various signs by
which Breed received long-range warnings. As they loitered along the
bottom of the draw the antelope bands were flashing the danger sign;
range cows on the ridges all stood facing the same way; everywhere
coyotes were scurrying for cover, but all these things passed over
Breed's head. A coyote flipped into the gulch and he did not tarry but
passed Breed with merely a sidelong look and vanished round a bend.

Breed was instantly alert. He darted to the rim of the draw and looked
warily about him. There was not an antelope in sight and no cows grazed
in the little basin that flanked the gulch at the point where he left
it; not a sign to warn him of the source of the danger. He ran for the
crest of a ridge for a better view,--and the next instant he was in full
flight back the way he had come, for as he sky-lined himself on the
ridge five sharp-eyed wolfhounds a quarter of a mile away had darted
toward him. He knew that they had seen him and were coming, that death
was sweeping down on him.

He turned up the gulch and followed it toward the hills, Shady running
her best to keep up with him. The dogs fanned out to look for him as
they topped the ridge. The upper end of the draw widened to blend into a
broad mesa and the hounds caught sight of the two wolves as they headed
out across the flat. Breed had held his lead but a clean race of over a
mile confronted him, the flat affording not one shred of cover. He swung
his head slightly to one side as he ran, one backward-rolling eye taking
in every detail of what transpired behind him.

He saw the five specks increase their speed and knew that they had
sighted