The Winslow mail., 1924-06-06

Judge I'll carry the child, and you
shall ride my horse Where is she2
Wait moment, though, Amy; there
was something else l had to do"
Seaton, recognizing the situation.
had stolen quietly away toward a
ridge of rocks behind the village.
Watching him. Winton saw him un-
tether and saddle a horse that was graz
ing there. He was not greatly interested
in this maneuver. The man without
a people seemed to have become an
Outcast once more
There was only one passage from
the hutS, which stood on a small ele-
walton half way up the hill, into the
valley. Seaton climbed into the saddle
and started down this track. The
movement arrested the judges atten-
ton.
Instantly he remembered His old
face flushed. He spurred his horse
and set off in pursuit, levelfng his
revolver
Seatons horse stumbled, but the
rider pulled him to his feet and dashed
OONA lhC Within Wd8
near enough to see the look of terror
on the old mans face The Judge
might have been fifty feet behind him.
The old woman watched the two men
impassively; probably her stunned
mind was incapable of taking in the
situation.
Suddenly the thunder of hoofs be-
OQTon andihlo fbo voS% hoVd %
springbuck dashed into the valley,
completely filling 1t.
Seaton had reached the end Of the
trail and was dashing up the valley.
with Davis in pursuit They raced
almost side by side. The judge made
no attempt to use his revolver which
he had replaced in his pocket; but,
bending forward over his horses neck,
stretched out his hands, which worked
convulsively, as If to rend his enemy
to pieces. After them poured the tor
rent of hOofs and horns, two hundred
thousand springbuck surging like an
irresistible tide under the impulse Of
the migrating instinct. 1t swept be-
tween WintOn and Davis, cutting them
asunder; and Winton, checked on q
little knoll, remained a helpless spec
tator of what followed, as incapable
of interfering or rendering add as q
he were mar0oned upon an iSlana
amid surge Of living waters.
All around him tossed the red bod.
les, and his horse, snOrting with fear
reared and plunged so that it required
all his skill that he might keep his
seat and not be flung down, to be
gored and trampled on.
He saw the judge grasp at Seato@
and half pull him from his saddle
SeatOn screamed and tore himself
free. Then the flood of the spring
buck swept in between them anA
drove them along, not ten PAGES apart
but isolated and helpless in the living
stream.
Their horses moved automatically.
carried on by the momentum of tha
vast herd, which filed the valley be-
hind and had spread over the face O4
the desert as far as could be seen.
The swirl through the neck Of the
pass had all the force of those un-
countable numbers behind it. 1t was
like water forced through hose pipe.
Iron gates could not have withStOod It
Winton saw the judge and Seatem
swept upward where the pass as
cended toward the summit Of the prec.
ipice The herd gained the plateau
But there was no other exit Ii WAS
nearing the edge Of the acclivity.
Then, without any percepuible check.
tAe foremost files of animals leaped
to destruction upon the rocks below.
For an instant WintOn saw Davis and
Seaton at the verge Of the precipice-
They disappeared.
And, file by file, the springbuck fol-
lowed them, the tawny bodies plunging
into the void until the pressure was
checked as the main body of the herd.
by some communicated instinct,
swerved into the main channel of the
pass.
AS the compact ranks of the spring
buck scattered, WintOn drove his
horse up the precipice. AT the edge
be dismOunted, and thrusting his
arms through the reins, he looked
over.
A vast brown stain upon the rocks
below was all that marked the grave
of Davis and his enemy. And over
head, winging their way through the
blue sky in solitary file, the vultureS
dropped to their festival.
Sick with horror, WintGn went back
to the village. He saw Sheila stand
ing beside the crouching woman at
the fire. He tethered his horse to
tree and went up TO her. She paid
no attention to him, but looked at
her mother tiXedly.
The old woman was bent forward,
her body supported by the elbows upon
the knees. She was quite motionless-
Winton took her hand; it was already