Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1906-11-17
CHAPTER XII.

hum of a bullet, like the buzz of an
angry bee. fed over us, | ducked my
head at the sound; but | give myself the
credit of saying that l poked it up again
the next moment.
MAY the fend grip him, but he has
Mauser pistolv' cried Reski. and saw
that the weapon In his own hand was
Of the common bulldog make. "At this
range l can do nothing against him"
He dashed his horses, and they plunged
CALAMITY forward. / could see that Mar
nae had stopped his sleigh and was cud-
ding his weapon with q perfect cool.
mesa Even at that distance | seemed
to feel the goggling murder in his eyes.
Zip! zip! He had missed again!
Thung! l saw one of the gallopiAG
horses stagger, and then his head and
shoulders seemed to fall away, as II he
had dropped forward into a hole. There
was a humping and a twisting wrench,
the snow By the roadside seemed TO
spring up at me, and the next instant |
was struggling In cold, binding darkness
/ wrigEled out from the drift, gasp
ing, with the fakes In my mouth and
eyes. The sleigh was twisted across the
road. half covering the dead horse. The
other two had scrambled to their feet
and now stood shivering, with dropping
heads. The fall had knocked the hoart
clean out OF them. Reski lay beside
them, hnddled where he had fallen.
Eighty yards away Marnac had stopped
and was watching us. He seemed satis~
ned with what he saw, for presently he
turned and lashing his team, trotted on
down the road.
l don't suppose 1t was more than q
couple OF minutes before Reski came
round, though it seemed long enough to
mo. He had got a nasty thump ON the
hsad, but as a matter of fact his wrist
turned out to be the more serious bust
ness, being very badly sprained indeed.
l made sling out Of neck wrap and
hxed him up as well as | was able. The
man had 4 remarkable vitality, besides
brute courage, for, the moment | had
finished. he walked over and examined
the sleigh.
1t looked hopeless enough. Ono Of the
runners had been torn almost clean away. 4
and the central part was badly cracked |
The body Of the poor lad Ivan lay on its
back in the roadway, staring up at the
sky. threw a rug over It.
We'll, We can't go on, that's certain"
I said.
mot In the sleigh, mein Herr" he
answered calmly.
And how elser
There are the horses, one for each.
When you have freed them of their har.
ness, l will ask you to assist me to
mount"
There was no good arguing with him,
and l was ashamed to seem less eager
than a man in his crippled condition
With his clasp knife l cut the twisted
traces away and freed them of their
collars. At his direction / dragged the
body of Ivan into the sleigh aud left him
there decently covered.
Reski mounted from the stump of
tree, to which | led the stronger of the
pair. was fairly good rider, but |
was excessively stiff from my long drive.
and not little shaken by my fall Ny
beast seemed to have the sharpest knife
bone of a back that Nature ever gave'
to horsehesh. But, after all. there was
nothing to be gained by grsmbling. Per
haps | was growing wiser by painful ex-
perience.
A curious pair we must have looked
that morning. Reski, with his arm in a
sling, and the butt of his revolver peep
Ing from his waist belt, would have made
as good a stage brigand as need be. For
myself, l was in too much of immediate
pain from the jolting trot of the brute
rode to carry formidable appearance.
! could never have imagined that a
horse lived with such adamantine fet-
locks as mine seemed to possess.
| have no exact record Of the time
but | should imagine that it was about
half an hour later that we sighted Mar
mac again. He was then good three
quarters of a mile ahead but travelling
lesurcy. Also, was very glad to no
tice that we were free of the waste lands
and that the spire of a church was pok
Ding out amongst some poplars ahead o.
him. He would never dare to use hi
revolver second time when men wer
about. Also, we might procure anothe
sleigh and team.
Resld sent his heels into his horse. an,
I'VE quickened our pace, though the poo
orutes were getting very done and drov
heavily along with hanging heads. |
vas about then that noticed a man be
aind us.
looked round He was then some dis
]4nce in our rear, but coming up fast. A
ar as | could make out, he was In a sor
# uniform and well mounted. The DO.
lbility of official help was very plea,
mt.
We were gaining on Marnac, who ha
lot yet noticed us.
With kicks and curses from Reski, an
he application of a hazel branch frol
hysef, we had squeezed a lumberin
.allop out of our horses. The sleigh VIZ
OF more than one hundred yards ava
eeski gripped his reins in his teeth ar
rev his revolver.
stop. therel Stop, say, in the nan
Il the law"
II was the man from behind who ha
US, but we rode on.
stop, or l fire."
j pulled up. I don't think 1t was ve
owardly when you think of it Beside
was anxious to explain.
Reski rode on
The man who had shouted flashed
q W