riding, shadowy horse that was strangely familiar to him, even in
the darkness that still held almost undisputed sway.

Twice that great brute ahead stumbled as if almost spent. Foot by foot
Phil gained, until a bare fifty yards divided them.

The horseman rounded another bend in the road. Phil dashed along in
hot chase.

He slowed up a bit, for the turning was treacherous. From the shadow
of one of the great, shelving, cut-away rocks, the horseman in waiting
jumped out on him. Phil's mare plunged its fore feet into the soft
earth, then reared in terror. The robber pulled a gun and fired. The
shot nicked a tiny piece from Phil's ear as it sang past. The man shot
again, this time without any apparent effect. He wheeled round,
spurred his horse and dashed off once more along the narrow path,
making for the last turn in the precipitous highway ere it ran from
the side of the Lake across a cut in the hills and into the thickly
wooded country.

Phil shook his reins. His mare sprang forward eagerly and held her own
for a little. But suddenly she began to swing in her stride, then she
stumbled, almost throwing her rider. Phil pulled her in and jumped to
the ground, just in time, for she collapsed in a quivering heap, with
blood oozing from a tiny hole in her chest and from her foaming mouth
and distended nostrils.

Something rose in Phil's throat, almost choking him. In his chagrin,
he raised his fist and shook it at the retreating horseman, who, as if
sensing his opponent's impotence at the same time as he became
exultant over his triumph and escape, stood up in his stirrups, turned
completely in his saddle, pulled off his hat and waved it defiantly.

It was thus that he mirrored himself on Phil's mind as he disappeared
momentarily round that dangerous bend.

But it was only for the flash of a second that the picture was shut
out. There was a shout and the sound of a crash. The great horse
reappeared at the sharp angle of the path, rearing high on its hind
legs, with its rider clinging precariously to its perpendicular body
as he struggled frantically with the stirrups as if trying to kick
free. The animal backed wildly against the frail wooden rail on the
left--erected there simply for the safety of pedestrians in the dark.
The fence gave way like matchwood, the rearing figure of the horse
with its rider balanced on the edge for a moment, then slowly toppled
backward amid a rush of loose, falling debris, sheer two hu