Pagina 60 de 439

For a long moment their gazes gripped, the deadly clear eyes of

the young woman and the furtive ones of the miscreant. Underneath

the robe she felt a stealthy movement, and cried out quickly:

"Hands up!"

With a curse he threw his arms into the air.

"Jump out! Don't lower your hands!"

"My ankle," he whined.

"Jump!"

His leap cleared the wheel and threw him to the ground. She

caught up the whip and slashed wildly at the horses. They sprang

forward in a panic, flying wildly across the open plain. Margaret

heard a revolver bark twice. After that she was so busy trying to

regain control of the team that she could think of nothing else.

The horses were young and full of spirit, so that she had all she

could do to keep the trap from being upset. It wound in and out

among the hills, taking perilous places safely to her surprise,

and was at last brought to a stop only by the narrowing of a draw

into which the animals had bolted.