The sides grew higher, now, with great rapidity. Already they were up to
the shoulder of Satan, now up to his withers, and from behind the roar of
the posse racing at full speed, filled the gulch with confusion of echoes.
They must be racing their horses as if they were entering the homestretch,
as if they were sure of the goal. It was strange.
Chapter XXXIII. The Jump
He brought Satan back to a hand canter, and so he pulled around the next
curve of the gulch and saw the trap squarely in front. He came to a full
halt. For he saw a tall, strong barbed-wire fence stretching across the
stream-bed, and beyond the fence were a litter of chicken-coops, iron bands
from broken barrels, and a thousand other of those things which brand the
typical western farm-yard; above the top of the bank to his left he caught
a glimpse of the sharp roof of the house.
He looked back, but it was far too late to turn, ride down the ravine to a
place where the bank could be scaled, and cut across country once more. The
posse came like a whirlwind, yelling, shooting as if they hoped to attract
attention, and attention they certainly won, for now Dan saw a tall
middle-aged fellow, his long beard blowing over one shoulder as he ran,
come down into the farm-yard with a double-barreled shotgun in his hands.
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