A WILD THOROUGHBRED 153 



but a few into the freedom of the wilds again. 

 On the second drive, he was the only horse to 

 escape. The following year additional help was 

 recruited for a big, final drive. The morale of 

 the cowboys in the drive was " the best. The 

 horses were to be driven up into a broad canon. 

 A cliff blocked the upper end and formed one side 

 of a corral. A short stretch of fence barred one 

 possible outlet and a deeply eroded, dry gully 

 prevented escape on another side. The cow- 

 boys trusted themselves to hold the narrow 

 entrance behind the horses if they succeeded in 

 getting them into the corral. 



About thirty horses came galloping over the 

 alkali stretches, tossing their tangled manes, 

 Black Diamond leading. The cowboys hurried 

 up from three points of the compass to run 

 them into the corral. In they dashed. Black 

 Diamond discovered the trap and like light- 

 ning wheeled to escape. He avoided the cow- 

 boys and daringly sought escape across the gully. 



In the lower end the gully split up into three 

 branches with narrow, island-like, steep-walled 

 bits of earth between. These tongue-like islands 

 stood from ten to fifteen feet above the bottom 

 of the gully. With a vigorous, picturesque leap 

 Black Diamond cleared the first gully, landed 

 on an island in safety, and then cleared the 

 second. Racing along this narrow, tongue-like 



