Of one thing he was sure--that he could not have found his back-trail.
But he divined he was never to retrace his steps on this journey. The
stretch of broken plateau before him grew wilder and bolder of outline,
darker in color, weirder in aspect, and progress across it grew slower,
more dangerous. There were many places Nagger should not have been put
to--where a slip meant a broken leg. But Slone could not turn back. And
something besides an indomitable spirit kept him going. Again the sound
resembling thunder assailed his ears, louder this time. The plateau
appeared to be ending in a series of great capes or promontories. Slone
feared he would soon come out upon a promontory from which he might see
the impossibility of further travel. He felt relieved down in the
gullies, where he could not see far. He climbed out of one, presently,
from which there extended a narrow ledge with a slant too perilous for
any horse. He stepped out upon that with far less confidence than
Nagger. To the right was a bulge of low wall, and a few feet to the
left a dark precipice. The trail here was faintly outlined, and it was
six inches wide and slanting as well. It seemed endless to Slone, that
ledge. He looked only down at his feet and listened to Nagger's steps.
The big horse trod carefully, but naturally, and he did not slip. That
ledge extended in a long curve, turning slowly away from the precipice,
and ascending a little at the further end. Slone, drew a deep breath of
relief when he led Nagger up on level rock.
Suddenly a strange yet familiar sound halted Slone, as if he had been
struck. The wild, shrill, high-pitched, piercing whistle of a stallion!
Nagger neighed a blast in reply and pounded the rock with his iron-shod
hoofs. With a thrill Slone looked ahead.
There, some few hundred yards distant, on a promontory, stood a red
horse.
"My Lord! ... It's Wildfire!" breathed Slone, tensely.
He could not believe his sight. He imagined he was dreaming. But as
Nagger stamped and snorted defiance Slone looked with fixed and keen
gaze, and knew that beautiful picture was no lie.
Wildfire was as red as fire. His long mane, wild in the wind, was like
a whipping, black-streaked flame. Silhouetted there against that canyon
background he seemed gigantic, a demon horse, ready to plunge into
fiery depths. He was looking back over his shoulder, his head very
high, and every line of him was instinct with wildness. Again he sent
out that shrill, air-splitting whistle. Slone understood it to be a
clarion call to Nagger. If Nagger had been alone Wildfire would have
killed him. The red stallion was a killer of horses. All over the Utah
ranges he had left the trail of a murderer. Nagger understood this,
too, for he whistled back in rage and terror. It took an iron arm to
hold him. Then Wildfire plunged, apparently down, and vanished from
Slone's sight.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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