"Oh!" she exclaimed. "They are going to shoot!" She withdrew her hand
from Ferguson's arm and held it, with the other, to her ears, cringing
away from the edge of the cliff. She waited, breathless, for--it
seemed to her--the space of several minutes, her head turned from the
men, her eyes closed for fear that she might, in the dread of the
moment, look toward the plain. She kept telling herself that she would
not turn, but presently, in spite of her determination, the suspense
was too great, and she turned quickly and fearfully, expecting to see
at least one riderless horse. That would have been horrible enough.
To her surprise both men still kept the positions that they had held
when she had turned away. The newcomer's revolver still menaced the
rustler. She looked up into Ferguson's face, to see a grim smile on
it, to see his eyes, chilled and narrowed, fixed steadily upon the two
horsemen.
"Oh!" she said, "is it over?"
Ferguson heard the question, and smiled mirthlessly without turning his
head.
"I reckon it ain't over--yet," he returned. "But I expect it'll be
over pretty soon, if that guy that's got his gun on the rustler don't
get a move on right quick. That other guy is comin' around the corner
of that break, an' if he's the rustler's friend that man with the gun
will get his pretty rapid." His voice raised a trifle, a slightly
anxious note in it.
"Why don't the damn fool turn around? He could see that last man now
if he did. Now, what do you think of that?" Ferguson's voice was
sharp and tense, and, in spite of herself, Miss Radford's gaze shifted
again to the plains below her. Fascinated, her fear succumbing to the
intense interest of the moment, she followed the movements of the trio.
From around the corner of the break the third man had ridden. He was
not over a hundred feet from the man who had caught the rustler and he
was walking his horse now. The watchers on the edge of the plateau
could see that he had taken in the situation and was stealing upon the
captor, who sat in his saddle, his back to the advancing rider.
Drawing a little closer, the third man stealthily dropped from his pony
and crept forward. The significance of this movement dawned upon Miss
Radford in a flash, and she again seized Ferguson's arm, tugging at it
fiercely.
"Why, he's going to kill that man!" she cried. "Can't you do
something? For mercy's sake do! Shout, or shoot off your pistol--do
something to warn him!"
Ferguson flashed a swift glance at her, and she saw that his face wore
a queer pallor. His expression had grown grimmer, but he smiled--a
little sadly, she thought.
"It ain't a bit of use tryin' to do anything," he returned, his gaze
again on the men. "We're two miles from them men an' a thousand feet
above them. There ain't any pistol report goin' to stop what's goin'
on down there. All we can do is to watch. Mebbe we can recognize one
of them. . . . Shucks!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account