The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1876-01-20
A Run for Life Over the Plains.

suuliSut anu tnC cACltCilOnt VI Nhe oPPOs
ing wind, which was strong enough to
oblige Arthur to exert a certain degree of
physical strength to overcome it, SO
wrought upon him that in a few moments
he had thrown off the mysterious spell
which the rancho Of the Blessed Trinity
appeared to have cast over his spirits and
had placed a material distance between
himself and its gloomy towers The
landscape, which had hitherto seemed
monotonous and uninspiring, o be-
came suggestive in the low, dOme.shaped
hills beyond, that were huddled together
like half blown earth bubbles raised by
the fiery breath of some long-dead vol
cano, he fancied he saw the origin Of the
Mission architecture. In the long sweep
of the level plain he recognized the calm,
u%ncventful life that had left its expression
in the patient gravity of the people, in the
fierce, restless wind that blew over it-a
wind SO persistent and perpetual that all
umbrage, except a narrow fringe Of
dwarfed willows defining the line of an
extinct water. course, was hidden in shell
tered canons and the lccward slopes Of
the hillside recognized something of his
own restless race and no longer wondered
at he barrenness of the life that was
turned toward the invader. 81 dare
say" he muttered to himself, "some-
where in the leeward Of these peoples
natures may exist a luxurious growth that
We shall never know. 1 wonder if the
! donna has not'-but here he stopped.
angry, and, if the truth must be told, a
little frightened at the persistency with
which Donna Dolores obtruded herself
into his abstract philosophy and senti-
ment.
Possibly something else caused him for
the moment to dismiss her from his mind.
During his rapid walk he had noticed as
an accidental, and by no means an es-
%sential, feature Of the bleak landscape the
vast herds of crawling, purposeless cattle.
An entirely new and distinct impression
was now forming itself in his conscious
ness-namely: that they no longer were
purposeless, vagrant and wandering, but
were actually obeying a certain definite
law of attraction, and were moving de-
liberately toward an equally definite OBJ
ject. And that object was himself!
Look where he would; before, behind,
on either side-north, east, south, west
on the bleak hill-tops, on the slope of the
talda, across the dried-up arroyo, there
were the same converging lines of slowly
moving objects toward a single focus
himself! Although walking briskly and
with a certain defnitcness of purpose, he
was apparently the only unchanging, fixed
and limited point in the now active land
scape. Everything that rose above the
dead, barren level was now moving slow
ly, irreslstibly, instinctively, but unmis-
takahly, toward one common center
himself! Alone and unsupported, he was
the helpless, unconscious nucleus of a
slowly-gathering force, almost immeas-
urable in its immensely and powerl
At first the idea was amusing and
g%rotesque. Then it became picturesque.
Then it became something for practical
consideration. And then-but no!-with
the quick and unerring instincts of a
powerful will he choked down the next
consideration before it had time to fasten
upon or paralyze his strength. He
stopped and turned. The rancho of the
Blessed Trinity was gone! Had it sud,
denly sunk in the earth, or had he di-
vergcd from his path? Neither; he had
simply walked over the little elevation in
the plain beside the arroyo and corral,
and had already left the rancho two miles
behind him.
1t was not the only surprise that came
upon him suddenly, like a blow between
The eyes. The same mysterious attraction
had been operating in his rear, and when
he turned to retrace his steps toward the
Mission he faced the staring eyes of 100
bulls, not fifty yards away. As he faced
them the nearest turned, the next rank
followed their example, the next the same,
and the next, until in the distance hc
could see the movement repeated with
military precision and sequence. With q
sense of relief, that he put aside as quick
ly as he had the sense of fear, he quick.
cncd his pace until the nearest bull ahead
broke into a gentle trot, which was com
municated line by line to the cattle be,
yond, until the whole herd before him I'm.
dulated like a vast, monOtonous sea. HI
continued on across the arroyo and pasi
the corral until the binding and impene.
trable cloud Of dust, raised by the plung-
ing hoofs OF the moving mass b~cforehim,
caused him to stop. A dull reverberati0n
Of the plain-a sound that at first might
have been attributed to a passing earth
quake-now became so distinct that he
turned. Not twenty yards behind him
rose the advance wall of another vast,
tumultuous sea of tossing horns and un-
dulating backs that had been slowly fol.
lowing his retreat! He had forgotten
that he was surrounded. The nearest
were o so close upon him thathe could
observe them separately. They were neither
large, powerful, vindictive, nor ferocious.
On the contrary, they were thin, wasted,
haggard, anxious beasts-economically
equipped and gotten up, the better to
wrcstie with a six months drought, occa-
sional famine and the incessant buffeting
of the wind wild and untamable; but
their staring eyes and nervous limbs eX-
pressed only wonder and curiosity. And
when he ran toward them with a shou,
they turned, as had the others, file by file
and rank by rank, and in a moment were,
like the others, in full retreat. Rather,
let me say, retreatcd as the others had re-
treated, for, when he faced about again to
~retrace his steps toward the Mission, he
fronted the bOssy bucklers and incXtrica-
bic horns of those he had driven, only a
few moments ago, before him. They had
availcd themselves of his diversion with
the rear guard to return.
With the rapidity of a quick intellect
and swift perceptions Arthur saw at once
the resistless logic and utter hopelcssness
of his situation. The inevitable culmina-
ton of all this was only a question of
time-and a very brief period. Would it
be sufficient to enable him to reach the
casa? No! Could he regain the corral ?
Perhaps. Between it and himself already
were a thousand cattle. Weuld they on
tinue to retreat as he advanced? Posi-
bly,. But would he be overtaken mean
while by those in the rear? He answered
the question himself by drawing from his
waistcoat pocket his only weapon, a small
I" Derringer,N and taking ain. at the fore.