As if the rider knew that a point of danger was
there to be passed, he spoke to his mount, and Satan lengthened into a
racing gait that blew the brim of the rider's hat straight up. On they
came. The wolf-dog darted past. Then as the horse swept by, Gus Reeve rose
from behind his bush and the rope darted snakelike from his hand. The
forefeet of Satan landed in the noose, and the next instant the back-flung
weight of Gus tightened the rope, and Satan shot over upon his side,
flinging the master clear of the saddle.
It sent him rolling over and over in the dust, and Sliver Waldron was on
his feet with both guns in action, sending bullet after bullet towards the
tumbling body. Gus Reeve was running towards the stallion, his rope in
action to entangle one of the hindfeet and make sure of his prey; Ronicky
Joe had leaped up with a yell and blazed away at Black Bart.
It was no easy mark to strike, for the moment the rope shot out from the
hand of Gus, the wolf-dog whirled in his tracks and darted straight for the
scene of action. It was that, perhaps, which troubled the aim of Ronicky
more than anything else, for wild animals do not whirl in this fashion and
run for an assailant.
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