Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1890-07-25

Polly hal recovered from her first con-
fusion OF terror now, and was able to
reason about things rather calmly. As
a result Of this she felt a partial return
Of confidence in the horse that bad played
her this trick. She began to suspect
that lie was not frantic at all, but only
in earnest. He seemed to know per
fectly what he was about and to be sat
isied hat it was the right thing exactly.
1t seemed rs though he fully understood
what Dick Mayhew was working for,
and was trying his best to help him.
But why Dick MAYHEM or anybody
else should risk his neck in a race with
that herd Of cattle was a thing that puz-
zled the girl. Nothing could stop them.
An army of horsemen could not make
them turn back. Yet all the time her
cowboy friend rode close beside the lead
ers Of the herd, now firing a pistol in the
air, now waving his arms frantically,
now uttering sudden wild shouts.
And at every fresh surprise the leaders
nearest the cowboy edged a little away
from him and showed the inside cattle in
the same direction. So, little by little,
the mar was forcing the head If the mad
procession farther and farthe- from the
straight line of march.
All at once Polly understood the whole
thing. She had heard her father and his
men talk about %"winding up a STAN
peding herd. The thing to do was to
push the leaders gradually around in a
circle. The others would follow. and as
the circle grew smaller and smaller the
front of the column would overtake the
rear, and finally the cattle would be so
helplessly wound up than they would
stop IN sheer bew ildermenl, This was
what she was helping Dick Mayhem to do.
Suddenly her horse swerved a little
and thrust his head fairly against the
side of one of the maddeued cattle. a
pair of red. angry eyes were turned in
Polly's direction, and they seemed to see
for the first time this meddles4ne out
rider. With n below Of rage the crea-
ture lowered its wide spreading horns.
and without further warning straight
way charged upon the horse aud its help
less rider.
Polly did not scream. A tightening AT
her throat made her voiceless. Her dan
ger was fearfully great and she knew it.
In an instant the terrible enemy was
upon her. He had dashed away from
the herd beyond her horse, and then
turning with lowered head was making
his onslaught. The girl saw that wen
if she escaped death on the points of
those dreadful horns she was likely to
be cast headlong upon the bri5tling
horns Of the galloping herd.
But the wise old horse saw the danger
as quickly as she, and knew far better
how to manage it. just as the lowered
horns almost touched him he s,vcrved
suddenly, turned sharply about and gal
loped to the rear. SO the horns aimed
1t the horse struck a member Of the herd
and aroused great anger IN him.
In a moment the horse had turned
again and was in full career toward the
front. once more. With difficulty Polly
had kept her seat through these swift
and surprising evolutious. Now, when
she faced about. she saw two furious
members of the herd detached and in
hot pursuit, not Of her. but of Dick May
hew. If one horse could not be over
thrown another would servel
In one awful second the girl realized
both the peril Of her faithful friend and
her own inability to even warn him. In
another instant the shock would be upon
him and he would he killed before her
eyes, If only he could be made to know
of his dHnger! If only she could attract
those furious creatures to herself ono
more!
With n flash Of inspiration Polly saw g
faint possibility Of rescue. With crici
and with blows from her small fists sh,
urged the horse to a swifter run, 50 tina
the distance between her and Dick be
came less and less. And then. laughing
aloud at the absurdity Of her device, sh,
bent down and u~nslung her umbrcll;
from the saddle.
AS she grasped the handle she was clos
behind the cowboy. But so were til,
pursuers she strove 10 rescue him from
Before she could cry out both the en-
ragged creatures had struck Dick May
hew's horse, and the poor animal la.
bleeding and disabled on the ground
while his stunned rider struggled to frc
himself from the ENHANCEMENT whicl
held him.
The force of the collision threw boil
the assailants backward toward III
herd. Before they could recover from
the rccoil and renew their charge Tin
horse which had begun the disturhanc
swept, with his pldcky young rider, be
tween them and their victim.
AS Dick Mayhem struggled to his fee
he saw the amazing appurition Of Poll.
Danyers flying past linn like the wind
She had something in her hands, and a
she passed the two brutcs, which wer
about 10 charge upon him for the seconl
time. he saw them both dash bickwar,
in alright. In the sudden rebound the,
were caught beneath the hoofs Of thei
companions and in Il twinkling the liz
was trampled out OF them.
Polly had found her weapon at last
and il had done good service; for ID haI
enabled her to save the life Of the frlcn
who, la another moment, would hav
been a mangled corpse beside his horse.
As she rode forward she had gTnspcl
the handle of her umbrella with ON
hand, while the other hand was on On
spring Of this extraordinary implemcn
of warfare. In dashing past the tw
threatening creatures she had suddenly
and with "A wild scream, spread the un
brella in their astOniShcd faces, with ti