Two was quite a bit ahead of the third one, and he
yelled to them to wait. But they only laughed and
rode harder.
And then fur some fool reason that last feller
pulled up his hoss and stopped. He stopped in the
road right in front of me, and wheeled his hoss
acrost the road and stood up in his stirrups and took
a long look at that blaze. You'd 'a' said he had
done it all himself and was mighty proud of it,
the way he raised his head and looked back at that
town. He was so near that I hearn him draw in a
slow, deep breath. He stood still fur most a minute
like that, black agin the red sky, and then he turned
his hoss's head and jabbed him with his stirrup
edge.
Jest as the hoss started they come a shot from
somewheres behind me. I s'pose they was some
one hid in the lumber piles, where the street crossed
the railway, besides myself. The hoss jumped
forward at the shot, and the feller swayed sideways
and dropped his gun and lost his stirrups and come
down heavy on the ground. His hoss galloped off.
I heard the noise of some one running off through
the dark, and stumbling agin the lumber. It was
the feller who had fired the shot running away.
I suppose he thought the rest of them riders would
come back, when they heard that shot, and hunt
him down.
Pages:
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174