The coyote mustang was leading the band; but as
I halted for a shot, he turned inward, and, the mares intervening, cut
off my opportunity. But the warning shot had reached every rider on the
circle, and as I plied rowel and quirt to turn the band, Tio Tiburcio
cut in before me and headed them backward. As the band whirled away from
us the stallion forged to the front and, by biting and a free use of his
heels, attempted to turn the _manada_ on their former course. But it
mattered little which way they turned now, for our cordon was closing
round them, the windward line then being less than a mile distant.
As the band struck the eastward or windward line of horsemen, the mares,
except for the control of the stallion, would have yielded, but now,
under his leadership, they recoiled like a band of _ladinos_. But every
time they approached the line of the closing circle they were checked,
and as the cordon closed to less than half a mile in diameter, in spite
of the outlaw's lashings, the _manada_ quieted down and halted. Then we
unslung our carbines and rifles and slowly closed in upon the quarry.
Several times the mustang stallion came to the outskirts of the band,
uttering a single piercing snort, but never exposed himself for a shot.
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