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
|