The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1916-07-27

Wlhu, the neaNy, RAPID pouno VI hoois'
the violent motion of his horse-these
We'd in sensation with the smart of
sweat in his eyes, the rack OF his
wound the cold, sick cramp in his
stomach. With these also was dull,
raging fury. He had to run when ne
wanted to fight. 1t took all his mind to
force back that bitter hate OF himself,
OF his pursuers, OF this race for his
useless life.
| Suddenly he burst out OF a line Of
mesquite into the road. A long stretch
OF lonely road! How fiercely, with hot,
strange joy, he wheeled his horse upon
it! Then he was sweeping along, sure
/ now that he was out In front. His
horse still had strength and speed, but
showed signs of breaking. Presently
| Duane looked back. Pursuers-he could
| not count how many-were Looping along
In his rear. He paid no more attention
to them, and with teeth set he faced
ahead, grimmer now in his determin-
alton to foil them.
He passed a few scattered ranch
houses where horses whistled from cor
rails, and men curiouSly watched him
| fly past He saw one rancher running,
and he felt intuitively that this fellow
was going TO join in the chase. Duane's
steed pounded on, not noticeably
slower, but with a lack of former
smoothness, with a strained. convul-
| sive, jerking stride which showed he
was almost done.
Sight of the village ahead surprised
Duane. He had reached it sooner than
he expected. Then he made q discov-
ery-he had entered the zone Of wire
fences. As he dared not turn back
now, ne kept on, intending to ride
through the village. Looking back
ward he saw that his pursuers were
half a mile distant, too far to alarm
any villagers in time t. intercept him
IN h 1es tsrIN h.. L. NH.a ~.N
houses his horse broke and began 10
labor. Duane did not believe he would
last long enough to go through the
village.
Saddled horses in front of a store
gave Duane an idea, not by any means
new, and one he had carried out sue
cessfully before. AS he pulled in his
heaving mount and leaped off, a couple
of ranchers came out of the place, and
one of them stepped to a clean limbed.
fiery bay. He was about to get into his
saddle when he saw Duane, and then
halted, foot in the stirrup.
Duane stored forward, grasped the
bride OF this mans horse.
Mines done--but not killed." he
painted. Trade with me-"
wal, stranger, I'm shore always
ready 10 trade" drawled the man. But
Amt you little swift?"
Duane glanced back up the road. His
I'm Duane-Buck Duane" he cried.
menacingly. will you trade? Hurry"
The rancher. turning white. dropped
his foot from the stirrup and fell back.
Il reckon I'll trade" he said.
Bounding up, Duane dug spurs into
the bays flanks The horse snorted in
fright, plunged into a run. He was
fresh, swift, half wild. Duane flashed
by the remaining houses on the street
out into the open. But the road ended
at the village or else led out from
some other quarter, for he had ridden
straight into the fields and from them
into rough desert. When he reached
the cover of mesquite once more he
looked back to find six horsemen with
| in rifle-shot Of him, and more coming
behind them.
His new horse had not had time to
get warm before Duane reached high
sandy bluff below which lay the willow
brakes. AS far as he could see ex-
tended an immense flat strip OF red
tinged willow. How welcome 1t was to
his eye! He felt like a hunted wolf
that, weary and lame, had reached his
role in the rocks. Zigzagging down the
soft slope. he put the bay to the dense
wall of leaf and branch. But the horse
baked
There was little time to lose. Dis
mounting, he dragged the stubborn
beast into the thicket This was harder
and slower work than Duane cared to
risk. If he had not been rushed he
might have had better success. So he
had to abandon the horse-a circum-
l'stance that only such sore straits could
have driven him to. Then he went
slipping swiftly through the narrow
aisles.
He had not gotten under cover any
too soon. For he heard his pursuers
piling over the bluff. loud voiced, con-
fident, brutal. They crashed into the
willows.
iii, Sid! Heah's your hoss!" called
| one, evidently to the man Duane had
! forced into a trade.
Say, If you locoed gents II hold up
little I'll tell you somethin'." replied
a voice from the bluff.
"Come on, Sid! We got him cor
rallied said the first speaker.
Wal. mebee, an IL you hev it's liable
to be damn hot. Thet Teller was Buck
Duane!"
Absolute silence followed that state
ment. Presently 1t was broken by a
rafting of loose gravel and then low
voices.
He can't git acrost the river, I tell
| you," came to Duane's ears. Hes
corralled in the brake. 1 know tibet
hole"
Then Duane, gliding silently and
! swiftly through the willows, heard no
more from MS purSuerS. he headed
straight for the river. Threading a
passage through willow brake was an
old task for him. Many days and
nights had gone to the acquiring of a
skill that might have been envied by
an Indian.
The Rio Grande and its tributaries
! for the most of their length in Texas
ran between wide, low, flat lands COW
cred by a dense growth Of willow.
! Cottonwood, mesquite, prickIy pear,
and other growths mingled with the
willow, and altogether they made a
matted, tangled copse, a thicket that an
| inexperienced man would have consid-
| cred Dnrecetrable. From above, these
Wild brakes looked green and red
| from the inside they were gray and yell
Iowa striped wall. Trails and glades
were scarce. There were a few deer
| runways and sometimes little paths
made by peccaries-the jabali, or void
pigs, of Mexico. The ground was clay
and unusually dry, sometimes baked so
hard that it left no imprint of a track.
! Where a growth OF cottonwood had
held back the encroachment of the
willows there usually was thick grass