oped
after as fast as my horse could go. I stayed for no consultation with
my companions; I had already forged far ahead of them. They were too
distant for speech.

I needed not their wisdom to guide me. No plan required conception or
deliberation; the course was clear: by speed alone could the horse be
taken, and his rider saved from destruction--_if yet safe_.

Oh, the fearfulness of this last reflection! the agony of the doubt!

It was not the hour to indulge in idle anguish; I repressed the emotion,
and bent myself earnestly upon the pursuit. I spoke to my brave steed,
addressing him by name; I urged him with hands and knees; only at
intervals did I inflict the cruel steel upon his ribs.

I soon perceived that he was flagging; I perceived it with increased
apprehension for the result. He had worn his saddle too long on the day
before, and the wet weary night had jaded him. He had been
over-wrought, and I felt his weariness, as he galloped with feebler
stroke. The prairie-steed must have been fresh in comparison.

But life and death were upon the issue. Her life--perhaps my own. I
cared not to survive her. She must be saved. The spur must be plied
without remorse: the steed must be overtaken, even if Moro should die!

It was a rolling prairie over which the chase led--a surface that
undulated like the billows of the ocean. We galloped transversely to
the direction of the "swells," that rose one after the other in rapid
succession. Perhaps the rapidity with which we were crossing them
brought them _nearer_ to each other. To me there appeared no level
ground between these land-billows. Up hill and down hill in quick
alternation was the manner of our progress--a severe trial upon the
girths--a hard killing gallop for my poor horse. But life and death
were upon the issue, and the spur must be plied without remorse.

A long cruel gallop--would it never come to an end I would the steed
never tire? would he never stop? Surely in time he must become weary?
Surely Moro was his equal in strength as in speed?--superior to him in
both?

Ah! the prairie horse possessed a double advantage--he had started
fresh--he was on his native ground.

I kept my eyes fixed upon him; not for one moment did I withdraw my
glance. A mysterious apprehension was upon me; I feared to look around,
lest he should disappear! The souvenirs of the former chase still
haunted me; weird remembrances clung to my spirit. I was on