But the laborers ceased working and watched, grouped, gesturing;
the staccato coughing of the steam shovel died gaspingly, as the engineer
shut off the engine and stood, rooted, his mouth agape; the fireman in the
dinky engine held tightly to the cab window. Murphy muttered in
astonishment, and Carson chuckled admiringly, for the descent was a full
hundred feet, and there were few men in the railroad gang that would have
dared to risk the wall on foot.

The black had gained impetus with distance. A third of the slope had been
covered when he struck some loose earth that shifted with his weight and
carried his hind quarters to one side and off balance. Instantly the rider
swung his body toward the wall of the cut, twisted in the saddle and swung
the black squarely around, the animal scrambling like a cat. The black
stood, braced, facing the crest of the cut, while the dislodged earth,
preceded by pebbles and small boulders, clattered down behind him. Then,
under the urge of Trevison's gentle hand and voice, the black wheeled
again and faced the descent.

"I wouldn't ride a horse down there for the damned railroad!" declared
Murphy.

"Thrue for ye--ye c'udn't," grinned Carson.

"A man could ride anywhere with a horse like that!" remarked the fireman,
fascinated.

"Ye'd have brought a cropper in that slide, an' the road wud be minus a
coal-heaver!" said Carson. "Wud ye luk at him now!"

The black was coming down, forelegs asprawl, his hind quarters sliding in
the sand. Twice as his fore-hoofs struck some slight obstruction his hind
quarters lifted and he stood, balanced, on his forelegs, and each time
Trevison averted the impending catastrophe by throwing himself far back in
the saddle and slapping the black's hips sharply.

"He's a circus rider!" shouted Carson, gleefully. "He's got the coolest
head of anny mon I iver seen! He's a divvil, thot mon!"

The descent was spectacular, but it was apparent that Trevison cared
little for its effect upon his audience, for as he struck the level and
came riding toward Carson and the others, there was no sign of
self-consciousness in his face or manner. He smiled faintly, though, as a
cheer from the laborers reached his ears. In the next instant he had
halted Nigger near the dinky engine, and Carson was introducing him to the
engineer and fireman.

Looking at Trevison "close up," Murphy was constrained to mentally label
him "some man," and he regretted his deprecatory word