aled, also
her trembling horse, and the form of the unconscious Texan lying with
face awash in the bottom of the boat. His hat, floating from side to
side as the craft rocked in the waves, brushed the horse's heels, and he
lashed out viciously, his iron-shod hoofs striking the side of the boat
with a force that threatened to tear the planking loose.

The incident galvanized her into action. If those hoofs had struck the
Texan? And if he were not already dead, suppose he should drown in the
filthy water in the bottom of the boat? Carefully, she worked the
frightened animal to the farther end of the boat, and swiftly made her
way to the limp form of the cowboy. She realized suddenly that she was
numb with cold. Her hat, too, floated in the bottom of the boat, and her
rain-soaked hair clung in wet straggling wisps to her neck and face.
Stooping over the injured man she twisted her fingers into the collar of
his shirt and succeeded in raising his face clear of the water. Blood
oozed from a long cut on his forehead at the roots of his hair, and on
top of his head she noticed a welt the size of a door knob. With much
effort she finally succeeded in raising him to a sitting posture and
propping him into a corner of the boat, where she held him with her body
close against his while she bathed his wound and wiped his eyes and lips
with her rain-soaked handkerchief. Opening her shirt, the girl succeeded
in tearing a strip from her undergarments with which she proceeded to
bandage the wound. This proved to be no small undertaking, and it was
only after repeated failures that she finally succeeded in affixing the
bandage smoothly and firmly in place. The storm continued with unabated
fury and, shivering and drenched to the skin, she huddled miserably in
the bottom of the boat against the unconscious form of the man.

Added to the physical discomfort came torturing thoughts of their
plight. Each moment carried her farther and farther from Timber
City--from Win. When the lightning flashed she caught glimpses of the
shore, but always it appeared the same distance away. The boat was
holding to the middle of the stream. She knew they must have drifted
miles. "What would Win say?" over and over the same question repeated
itself in her brain, and step by step, she reviewed the events of the
night. "I did the right thing--I know I did!" she muttered, "they would
have killed him!" And immediately she burst into tears.

Inaction became unb