THE COWARDLY COUGAR 



abreast of the U-horse. Now its head ap- 

 peared, now its belly; again the white pack 

 cover came into view. Bill made a cast, lost 

 his slippery footing, and fell into the stream, 

 whereupon, to quote that immortal lyric 

 dealing with the fatal adventures of Ten 

 Little Indians, "there were two." 



Ambrose had remained upon the opposite 

 bank. Fortunately enough, he had retained 

 his lariat trust your cowman to keep his 

 tobacco and his rope handy. By the time we 

 had unlimbered our still cameras, he, too, was 

 endeavoring to save the unfortunate beast. 

 But the current foiled him; it swept his loop 

 off time after time, until, at last, the horse 

 turned its head upstream, whereupon he 

 made a perfect catch, sat back on his haunches, 

 and was dragged stiff-legged over the rocks, 

 like the anchor of an airship. He took a 

 dally around a small quaking-asp near the 

 water's edge, and, although the tree came out 

 by the roots, the horse came to rest under a 

 steep bank. Just below was a nasty chute, 

 which would have been its undoing had it 

 failed to end its journey at this point. 



"I've got him," Ambrose yelled, "and he's 

 a dandy!" 



165 



