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is men fled up the valley, following the trail taken by Deveny and the lone horseman, and when they had gone two or three miles they saw a rider coming toward them. They raced toward him, for they saw he was in trouble; that he had lashed himself to the pommel of the saddle, and that he was leaning far over it, limp and inert. Linton was not unconscious, but he was very near it; so near that he seemed to dream that men were around him and that voices were directed at him. Into his mind as he straightened and looked at the men finally came the conviction that this was not a dream; and after an instant of intense effort, during which he fixed his gaze on Colver, he recognized the other. He laughed, grimly, mockingly: "Front an' rear--eh?" he said. "You got me, goin' an' comin'. Well, go to it--I deserve it, for lettin' Barbara out of my sight. If you don't kill me, Harlan will. But if you guys are _men_, you won't let Deveny----" "Deveny's got Barbara Morgan?" This was Colver. Something in his voice straightened Linton further, and he steadied himself in the saddle and looked fairly at the man. "Deveny's got her. An' they got me--chasin' 'em. I was headin' back to the Rancho Seco, to get the T Down boys--all Harlan's friends--to wipe Deveny out. If you guys are _men_----" Sheer will could no longer support Linton's failing muscles--and he again collapsed over the pommel. For an instant only did Colver hesitate. Then he turned to a lean rider who bestrode a tall, rangy horse. He spoke sharply to the rider: "Hit the breeze to the Rancho Seco, an' get them T Down boys. Fan it, damn you!" The rider was off with the word, leaping his horse down the trail with dizzying speed. Then Colver loosed the rope that held Linton to the saddle, and with the help of the other men lifted the man down and stretched him in a plot of grass beside the trail, where they worked over him until they saw, far out on the level toward the Rancho Seco, a number of horsemen coming, seemingly abreast, as though they were racing, each man trying his best to outstrip the others. CHAPTER XXIX WORLD'S END Barbara Morgan had fought Deveny until she became exhausted. Thereafter she lay quiet, breathing fast, yielding to the nameless terror that held her in its icy clutch. The appearance of Deveny so soon after the end of the heartbreaking ride down the trail had brought into her heart a sense of the futility of resis
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