The Pacing Mustang 



camp to eat and rest, and then move on up 

 stream. 



All that day Jo followed, and managed, when 

 it was needed, that the herd should keep the 

 great circle, of which the wagon cut a smali 

 chord. At sundown he came to Verde Crossing, 

 and there was Charley with a fresh horse and 

 food, and Jo went on in the same calm, dogged 

 way. All the evening he followed, and far into 

 the night, for the wild herd was now getting 

 somewhat used to the presence of the harmless 

 strangers, and were more easily followed; more- 

 over, they were tiring out with perpetual travel- 

 ling. They were no longer in the good grass 

 country, they were not grain-fed like the horses 

 on their track, and above all, the slight but 

 continuous nervous tension was surely telling. 

 It spoiled their appetites, but made them very 

 thirsty. They were allowed, and as far as pos- 

 sible encouraged, to drink deeply at every 

 chance. The effect of large quantities of water 

 on a running animal is well known ; it tends to 

 stiffen the limbs and spoil the wind. Jo care- 

 fully guarded his own horse against such excess, 

 and both he and his horse were fresh when they 



243 



