Behind them they could hear the booming, rattling roar of the avalanche of water that was sweeping down between the canyon walls. And presently, piercing through even its rumbling tumult and the crashing thunder, they heard the death cry of the horse they had left behind, and knew that he had been engulfed in the mountainous wave that was rushing toward them at a speed they could not hope to equal. Lucy trembled at the sound and nestled her head against Conrad's shoulder. As they neared the first road cutting across the gulch Curtis lowered his head to Lucy's ear: "Sweetheart, we are almost at the first road out. I can put you off and you can run up there and be safe." "No," she whispered back; "don't stop for an instant. Every second will mean many lives. I'm going with you to whatever end there is, and I'm not afraid." Brown Betty's flanks were steaming. The froth from her mouth flecked her neck and legs and body, to be quickly washed off by the drenching rain. Behind them they could hear, coming nearer and nearer, the fateful roar of the rushing waters. The canyon walls opened out, and, looming vaguely in the dim light, they could see the first houses of the town. With full lungs Conrad shouted at the top of his voice: "Run! A cloudburst! A cloudburst is coming! Run for your lives!" They dashed on, and the houses became more frequent. There were lights in the windows, though it was little past mid-afternoon. Curtis, shouting his warning over and over, put the bridle in Lucy's hands and drew his revolver. They were rushing down the main street, through the most thickly built portion of the town. Pointing upward, he added the noise of pistol shots to his clamor. Men and women came to their doors, caught the meaning of his cries, heard the roar of the coming flood, and rushed out and up the side streets, shouting warnings as they ran. "My father--the bank--can we go so far?" asked Lucy breathlessly. "Yes--we'll call him," Conrad assured her, glancing back over his shoulder. Behind them rose a din of shouts and yells and screams of terror, mingling with the peals of thunder and the roar of the waters. The street was full of people running this way and that. And a little farther back, through the dusky light, he saw a brown, foaming wall of water, its crest topping the roofs of the houses, its front a mass of half-engulfed trees and houses and pieces of lumber and arms and legs and bodies of men and animals that boiled up from its foot, tossed and whirled a moment on its breast, and sank into the flood. Curtis ground his teeth together. They were still three blocks from the bank. "We'll never make it," he thought; "but we'll try!" His arm gathered Lucy closer to his breast, his spur touched Brown Betty's heaving flank, and with another loud shout of warning and an encouraging cry to the mare they darted on with a fresh burst of speed. CHAPTER XXV FULFILMENT OF THE LAW