violent. Suddenly a fiery light shot into his dying eyes. The old high
mettle leaped to vivid life, and then, as though the flag had dropped,
the starting-drum had tapped, Van's fleeting spirit whirled into his
dying race. Lying on his side, his hoofs flew through the air, his
powerful limbs worked back and forth swifter than ever in their swiftest
gallop, his eyes were aflame, his nostrils wide distended, his chest
heaving, and his magnificent machinery running like lightning. Only for
a minute, though,--only for one short, painful minute. It was only a
half-mile dash,--poor old fellow!--only a hopeless struggle against a
rival that never knew defeat. Suddenly all ceased as suddenly as all
began. One stiffening quiver, one long sigh, and my pet and pride was
gone. Old friends were near him even then. "I was with him when he won
his first race at Tucson," said old Sergeant Donnelly, who had ridden to
our aid, "and I knowed then he would die racing."

THE END.

PRINTED BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY, PHILADELPHIA.

Transcriber's note

Some of the spellings and hyphenations in the original are unusual;
they have not been changed. Minor punctuation errors have been corrected
without notice. A few obvious typographical errors have been
corrected and are listed below.

Page 107: "would he hurried to their support" changed to "would be
hurried to their support".

Page 160: "See knew how her father trusted" changed to "She knew how her
father trusted".

Page 197: "The car-seems whirling" changed to "The car seems whirling".

Page 227: "jagged rocks stook" changed to "jagged rocks stood".

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Starlight Ranch, by Charles King

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