The Last of the Plainsmen 



his life. Certain it was he preferred to end the 

 latter, for he risked death from the rocks as he went 

 over them in long leaps. 



Jones could have roped either of the two blacks, 

 but he hardly noticed them. Covered with dust and 

 splotches of foam, they took their advantage, turned 

 on the circle toward the passage way and galloped 

 by me out of sight. Again Wallace, Frank and Jim 

 let out strings of yells and volleys. The chase was 

 narrowing down. Trapped, the White Mustang 

 King had no chance. What a grand spirit he 

 showed! Frenzied as I was with excitement, the 

 thought occurred to me that this was an unfair battle, 

 that I ought to stand aside and let him pass. But 

 the blood and lust of primitive instinct held me fa c t. 

 Jones, keeping back, met his every turn. Yet always 

 with lithe and beautiful stride the stallion kept out 

 of reach of the whirling lariat. 



&quot; Close in ! &quot; yelled Jones, and his voice, powerful 

 with a note of triumph, bespoke the knell of the 

 king s freedom. 



The trap closed in. Back and forth at the upper 

 end the White Mustang worked; then rendered 

 desperate by the closing in, he circled round nearer 

 to me. Fire shone in his wild eyes. The wily Jones 

 was not to be outwitted; he kept in the middle, 



always on the move, and he yelled to me to open up. 



120 



