organs were so much refractory leather or metal.
Then came the saddle, and with it further torture.
The forward belt was made snug, which
he was accustomed.to and expected; but when the
rear girdle was cinched so tight that he found
difficulty in breathing, he became nervous and
wanted to protest. It was all very unusual, this
rough handling, and he did not understand it.
The effect of the tight cinch was peculiar, too.
With the knot tied firmly, he felt girded as for
some great undertaking, his whole nervous system
seemed to center in his stomach, and all his
wonted freedom and buoyancy seemed compressed
and smothered. With all this, and the man in
the saddle and spurring viciously, he realized
grimly the change in masters.

They set out at a fox-trot, continuing their
southwesterly direction. It was an unmarked
course from the beginning, leading them steadily
down into the Mogollon range, and, as before,
Johnson was occupying the lead, with Jim next
behind, and Glover bringing up the rear. And,
as on the first leg of the journey, all rode in
silence.

So Pat was in the lead, and while he found his
new master half as heavy again as the other, he
also found compensation for the increased weight
in the position which he occupied. Not that he
was proud to be in the lead; nothing from the
beginning of this adventure had caused a thrill
of either joy or pride. But he did find in his new
place freedom from dust cast up by the heels of

[[187]]

p186 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p187w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p188

v?