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Show 206 THE MORMON LION " There are no mounts in Kaysville can show a nose 'longside these blooded beauties. Come on. We've got a chance to overtake our wolf before sunrise The run from the city has only just warmed up ou~ racers.'' This I knew only too well. My mount had not turned a hair after all those miles o f swift pursuit. He had loped mto Kaysville w1th h1s rangy stride as easy and resilient as at the start. All three horses were prancing with eagerness to be off again. I racked my brains to devise some pretext for delay. The best I could do was to feign that my saddl~ had shrped. I und1d the girth-buckle and contnved to gam a few moments by fumbling about and grumbhng that the restlessness of my horse prevented me from gettmg the buckle-tongue in the proper hole. All too soon, Waller sprang off and fastened the girth in a twinkling. I could do no else than mount. . "The cuss took the lower road," said our reverend '!!formant, and he proceeded to invoke terrific maledictwns upon the head of the man who had duped h1m. We cantered out of the silent little settlement and then gradually eased our grip on the reins until our horses were poundmg along at a twelve-mile gait. Presently I gave my horse the spur and dashed ahead of the others, scheming to set a pace that would :mnd all three. But Chilcott ordered me to the rear m .~tone, that was not to be disregarded. Don t get mto such an all-fired hurry " he g~owled as I fell back past him. "We'll cat~h up w1th the cuss soon enough." After tJ;!is the best I cotdd do was to try to slacken my horse s speed by beanng my weight on one side to throw h1m out of his stride. If he went slower the ~thers might do the same. Waller's cunning, fe~rethke observatwn of my awkward riding forced me to g!Ve over the attempt before it had brought any results. THE MORMON LION 207 The ordy thing left for me to t1 was to ride heavy. H~d my we1ght been anything ike Chilcott's, this m1ght have had some effect. As it was, my horse was not even brought down to an equality of handicap with his. And yet, though he was so heavy a man, he rode with the lightness of a jockey, "lifting" his horse with no less skill than he displayed in setting our pace. On sharp ascents and in deep sand he slowed to a walk ; at times he eased the rems and sl?rinted along favourable stretches, the skirts of h1s long coat flying out behind him. But for the most part he held the pace to a steady gallop. Waller and I followed close behind, racing or reining in as required to keep our positions. At the fording of the Weber River, which was shallow and shrunken from the midsummer drought, my companions saw to it that my horse, as well as their own, was allowed only a sip or two of water. As we loped across the dreary flats beyond the river I noticed that both Chilcott and Waller were every now and then peering down at the road. I too began to look. Late the previous evening the road had been swept by the lake breeze. Where soft enough to make an impression, it was now freshly marked with a single set of narrow wheel tracks and the hoofprints of a span of horses. Meeting my 'glance, Waller chuckled and said: "Seen 'em at last, Dave, hey? No guessing about that trail. Got to look sharp he don't turn off to scoot up to Ogden City. Might 'a' changed his plans and fi~gered to strike east through Spring Valley. Let him try. We'll nab him all the sooner. According to my tell, them tracks is gitting fresher. How about it, Bill? Ain't we overhauling him purty fast now. Must've give his ponies too much water.' "Wasn't only the water," called back Chilcott. " That loose shoe on the off hind foot of the nigh horse began to bother him more, a mile back. It got worse along here- Told you so." |
