She glanced over her
shoulder, but the terrific downpour acted as a curtain through which
her eyes could not penetrate with the aid even of the most vivid
flashes of lightning. Yet she knew that the Texan rode at her flank
and that the others followed--Endicott and Bat, with his pack-horse
close-snubbed to his saddle-horn. Suddenly the girl felt her horse
labouring. His speed slackened perceptibly. As abruptly as it started
the rain stopped; and she saw that water was swirling about his knees.
Saw also by the aid of a lightning flash that throughout its width the
valley was a black sea of tossing water. Before her the bank was very
close and she jerked her horse toward a point where the perpendicular
sides of a cutbank gave place to a narrow plane that slanted steeply
upward. It seemed to the girl that the steep ascent would be
impossible for the horses but it was the only chance. She glanced
backward. The Texan was close behind, and following him were the
others, their horses wallowing to their bellies. She had reached the
hill and so steep was its pitch that her horse seemed perpendicular to
the earth's surface. She leaned over the horn and twisted her fingers
into his mane as the animal, his feet clear of the water, clawed and
scrambled like a cat to gain the top.
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