. Then
Alcatraz pitched back into thin air.

He caught one glimpse of the wildly blowing storm-clouds above him,
then he crashed with stinging force into the water below.

CHAPTER XXV

THE LITTLE SMOKY

Pure madness poured into the brain of Red Perris as he saw the fall.
Here, then was the end of the trail, and that great battle would never
be fought. Groaning he rode to the bank of the stream, mechanically
gathering up the rope as he went.

He saw below him nothing but the rush of water, white riffles showing
its speed. An occasional dark steak whirled past--the trunks of trees
which the Little Smoky had chewed away from their foothold on its
sides. Doubtless one of these burly missiles had struck and instantly
killed the stallion.

But no, yonder his head broke above the surface--a great log flung
past him, missing the goal by inches--a whirl in the current rolled
him under,--but up he came again, swimming gallantly. The selfish rage
which had consumed Red Perris broke out in words. Down the bank he
trotted the buckskin, shaking his fist at Alcatraz and pouring the
stream of his curses at that devoted head. Was this the reward of
labor, the reward of pain and patience through all the weeks, the
sleepless nights, the weary days?

"Drown, and be damned!" shouted Red Perris, and as if in answer, the
body of the stallion rose miraculously from the stream and the hunter
gasped his incredulity. Alcatraz was facing up stream, half his body
above the surface.

The explanation was simple. At this point the Little Smoky abated its
speed a little and had dropped a load of rolling stones and sand. An
hour later it might be washed away, but now it made a strong bank
with the current skimming above the surface. On this the stallion had
struck, and whirling with the current he faced towards the source of
the valley and looked into the volleying waters. Here, surely, was a
sight to make a weakling tremble. But to the astonishment of Perris,
he saw the head of the stallion raised, and the next moment the
thunder of his neigh rang high above the voices of the river, as
though he bade defiance to his destroyer, as though he called on the
God of Gods to bear witness that he died without fear.

"By the Eternal!" breathed Red Perris, smitten with awe, and the next
instant, the ground giving way beneath him, Alcatraz was bowled over
and over, only to come up again farther down the stream.

He turned his head. Far away he m