she did. Stiffening in the stirrups, she gripped a
single rein in both hands and pulled with all her
strength. But she could not swerve the horse.
On he plunged for the obstruction, evidently not
seeing it. She screamed again.

"Pat! Pat! Pat!"

But, as before, the horse did not heed. He
dashed to the fence. He hesitated, but only for
an instant. Throwing up his head, he rose and
took the fence cleanly. Once on the other side, he
resumed his frantic racing -- pounding along in
the mountain trail, his course clearly defined, hurtling
madly straight toward town. With the fence
safely cleared, and the way ahead free of vehicles,
Helen regained much of her composure. Settling
calmly to the rhythmic movement, she permitted
the horse free rein. Once she reached back to
gather up her hair, but the motion of the horse
forbade this. So she fell to watching his splendid
energy, finding herself quite calm and collected
again, vaguely wondering how it would end. For
the horse seemed tireless.

Wise in his knowledge of first principles, and
remembering the terrible slap across his eyes, Pat
continued to rush forward. As he ran he kept
eyes alert about him, fearing another blow. He
knew that the thing was white, and he watched
for a white something. Instead of a white something,
however, there presently loomed up beside
him a brown something, browner even than the
desert, a something racing along beside him, moving
with a speed equal to his own -- even greater

[[78]]

p077 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p078w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p079

v?