He did not wait to lead her to the door before mounting, but
sprang into the saddle.
Here he whirled her about and drove home the spurs. Cruel usage, for
Long Bess had never denied him the utmost of her speed and strength at
the mere sound of his voice. Now, half-mad with fear and surprise, she
sprang forward at full gallop, slipped and almost sprawled on the floor,
and then thundered out of the door.
At once the soft sandy-soil received and deadened the impact of her
hoofs. Off she flew through the grey of the morning, soundless as a
racing ghost.
Long Bess--there was good blood in her. She was as delicately limbed as
an antelope, and her heart was as strong as the smooth muscles of her
shoulders and hips. Yet to Buck Daniels her fastest gait seemed slower
than a walk. Already his thoughts were flying far before. Already he
stood before the ranch house calling to Dan Barry. Ay, at the very door
of the place they should meet and one of them must die. And better by
far that the blood of him who died should stain the hands of Kate
Cumberland.
CHAPTER XXXII
VICTORY
The grey light which Buck Daniels saw that morning, hardly brightened as
the day grew, for the sky was overcast with sheeted mist and through it
a dull evening radiance filtered to the earth. Wung Lu, his celestial,
slant eyes now yellow with cold, built a fire on the big hearth in the
living-room. It was a roaring blaze, for the wood was so dry that it
flamed as though soaked in oil, and tumbled a mass of yellow fire up the
chimney.
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