RIDING THE RIM ROCK 93 



bring it near. The height of his horse brought it 

 near he seemed to look down from his saddle over 

 it, into its dark depths. The herd in its milling 

 was surely warping slowly in the direction of the 

 precipice. But this was all fancy the trick of ,the 

 dark and of nerves, if a plainsman has nerves. 



At twelve o'clock the first guard came in and 

 woke the second watch. Wade had been in his sad- 

 dle since dawn, but this was his regular watch. 

 More than that, his trained ear had timed the mill- 

 ing hoofs. The movement of the herd had quick- 

 ened. 



If now he could keep them going and could pre- 

 vent their taking any sudden fright ! They must 

 not stop until they stopped from utter weariness* 

 Safety lay in their continued motion. So Wade, with 

 the fresh riders, flanked them closely, paced them, 

 and urged them quietly on. They must be kept mill- 

 ing, and they must be kept from fright. 



In the taut silence of the starless desert night, 

 with the tension of the cattle at the snapping-point, 

 any quick, unwonted sight or sound would stam- 

 pede the herd the sneezing of a horse, the flare 

 of a match, enough to send the whole four thousand 

 headlong blind, frenzied, tramping till spent 

 and scattered over the plain. 



And so, as he rode, Wade began to sing. The 

 rider ahead of him took up the air and passed it on, 

 until, above the stepping stir of the hoofs, rose the 



