xtend for
miles, but which, in reality, was only a few hundred yards across.

Still she did not halt, but sped on gamely, heading for the mouth of the
nearest gully. Presently the thud of hoofs terrified her, but stung her to
even greater effort. Nearer the hoofs-beats came, and nearer still.
Breathless, panting, she knew now she could never reach the gully. The
realization sent her heart sinking like a lead plummet, but fear drove her
blindly on. Suddenly the bulk of a horse loomed beside her and a man's
easy, sneering laugh bit into her soul like vitriol. An instant later
Lynch leaped from his saddle and caught her around the waist.

"Yuh would, would yuh?" he cried, gazing down into her flushed, frightened
face. "Tried to shake me, eh?"

For a moment he held her thus, devouring her with his eyes, holding the
bridles of both horses in his free hand. Then all at once he laughed
again, hatefully, and crushing her to him, he kissed her, roughly,
savagely--kissed her repeatedly on the lips and cheeks and throat.

Mary cried out once and tried to struggle. Then of a sudden her muscles
relaxed and she lay limply in his arms, eyes closed, wishing that she
might die, or, better yet, that some supreme force would suddenly strike
the creature dead.

How long she lay there shuddering with disgust and loathing, she did not
know. It seemed an eternity before she realized that his lips no longer
touched her, and opening her eyes she was startled at the sight of his
face.

It was partly turned away from her as he stared southward across the
flats. His eyes were wide, incredulous, and filled with a mingling of
anger and dismay. In another moment he jerked her roughly to her feet,
dragged her around to the side of her horse, and fairly flung her into the
saddle. Vaulting into his own, he spurred the beast savagely and rode back
toward the out-thrust spur at a gallop, dragging the unwilling Freckles
with him.

Gripping the saddle-horn to keep her precarious seat, Mary yet found time
for a hurried backward glance before she was whisked out of sight of that
wide stretch of open country to the south. But that glance was enough to
make her heart leap. Dots--moving dots which she had no difficulty in
recognizing as horsemen--were sweeping northward along the edge of the
breaks. Who they were she neither knew nor cared. It was enough that they
were men. Her eyes sparkled, and a wild new hope flamed up within her,
even though she was