nter of the guarding circle which
Alcatraz now drew. What a dauntless courage was here in the brute mind
which, knowing the power of man, dared to rob him, to defy him! Truly
this was the king of horses meant for higher ends than to serve as
target of a Winchester. Ay, he could make his owner a king among men.
Mounted on the back of the chestnut no enemy could overtake him; from
that winged speed none could escape. The back of Alcatraz might be a
throne! He could end all that boundless strength by one pressure of
his finger but was that indeed a true conquest? It was calling to his
aid a trick, it was using an unfair advantage, it seemed to Perris;
but suppose that he, the rider who had never yet failed in the saddle,
were to sit on the stallion--there would be a battle for the Gods to
witness!

It was madness, sheer madness; it was throwing away the labor of the
patient days of waiting and working; but to Perris it seemed the only
thing to do. He leaped to his feet and brandished the gleaming rifle.

"Go it, boy!" he shouted. "We'll meet again!"

One snort from Alcatraz--then he changed to a red streak flashing down
the hollow.

Before the stallion was out of sight, a cry rang down the wind. It
was chopped off by the crack of a rifle, and Lew Hervey spurred from
behind a neighboring hill and plunged after Alcatraz pumping shot on
shot at the fugitive. In a frenzy Perris jerked his own gun to the
shoulder and drew down on the pursuer, but the red anger cleared from
his mind as he caught the burly shoulders of Hervey in the sights. He
lowered the rifle with a grim feeling that he had never before been so
close to a murder.

A moment later he began to chuckle behind his set teeth. No wonder
they credited the chestnut with a charmed life. As he raced away
gaining a yard at every leap, he swerved like a jackrabbit from side
to side. Perhaps the deadly hum of bullets on many another chase had
taught him this trick of dodging, but beyond all doubt when Hervey
returned to the ranch that night he would have a tale of mystery. To
preserve his self-respect as a good marksman, what else could he do?

In the meantime pursued and pursuer scurried out of sight beyond a
hill; the gun barked far away and the echoes murmured lightly from the
hollows. Then Perris turned his back and trudged homewards.

CHAPTER XVI

RED PERRIS: ADVOCATE

He did not choose to live in the ranch because of Hervey and because
it was too far re