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take but an instant, and in that instant the stallion would doubtless be under way at top speed in the
opposite direction. Then he would have to wheel about when I surprised him, and in doing so, he would
most certainly rise slightly upon his hind feet and throw up his head, presenting a perfect target for my
noose as he pivoted.
Yes, I had it beautifully worked out, and I waited until he should turn in my direction. At last it became
evident that he was doing so, when apparently without cause, the filly raised her head, neighed and
started off at a trot in the opposite direction, immediately followed, of course, by the colts and my
stallion. It looked for a moment as though my last hope was blasted; but presently their fright, if fright it
was, passed, and they resumed grazing again a hundred yards farther on. This time there was no bush
within fifty feet of them, and I was at a loss as to how to get within safe roping-distance. Anywhere under
forty feet I am an excellent roper, at fifty feet I am fair; but over that I knew it would be a matter of luck if
I succeeded in getting my noose about that beautiful arched neck.
As I stood debating the question in my mind, I was almost upon the point of making the attempt at the
long throw. I had plenty of rope, this Galu weapon being fully sixty feet long. How I wished for the collies
from the ranch! At a word they would have circled this little bunch and driven it straight down to me; and
then it flashed into my mind that Nobs had run with those collies all one summer, that he had gone down
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to the pasture with them after the cows every evening and done his part in driving them back to the
milking-barn, and had done it intelligently; but Nobs had never done the thing alone, and it had been a
year since he had done it at all. However, the chances were more in favor of my foozling the long throw
than that Nobs would fall down in his part if I gave him the chance.
Having come to a decision, I had to creep back to Nobs and get him, and then with him at my heels
return to a large bush near the four horses. Here we could see directly through the bush, and pointing the
animals out to Nobs I whispered: "Fetch 'em, boy!"
In an instant he was gone, circling wide toward the rear of the quarry. They caught sight of him almost
immediately and broke into a trot away from him; but when they saw that he was apparently giving them
a wide berth they stopped again, though they stood watching him, with high-held heads and quivering
nostrils. It was a beautiful sight. And then Nobs turned in behind them and trotted slowly back toward
me. He did not bark, nor come rushing down upon them, and when he had come closer to them, he
proceeded at a walk. The splendid creatures seemed more curious than fearful, making no effort to
escape until Nobs was quite close to them; then they trotted slowly away, but at right angles.
And now the fun and trouble commenced. Nobs, of course, attempted to turn them, and he seemed to
have selected the stallion to work upon, for he paid no attention to the others, having intelligence enough
to know that a lone dog could run his legs off before he could round up four horses that didn't wish to be
rounded up. The stallion, however, had notions of his own about being headed, and the result was as
pretty a race as one would care to see. Gad, how that horse could run! He seemed to flatten out and
shoot through the air with the very minimum of exertion, and at his forefoot ran Nobs, doing his best to
turn him. He was barking now, and twice he leaped high against the stallion's flank; but this cost too much
effort and always lost him ground, as each time he was hurled heels over head by the impact; yet before
they disappeared over a rise in the ground I was sure that Nob's persistence was bearing fruit; it seemed
to me that the horse was giving way a trifle to the right. Nobs was between him and the main herd, to
which the yearling and filly had already fled.
As I stood waiting for Nobs' return, I could not but speculate upon my chances should I be attacked by
some formidable beast. I was some distance from the forest and armed with weapons in the use of which
I was quite untrained, though I had practiced some with the spear since leaving the Kro-lu country. I
must admit that my thoughts were not pleasant ones, verging almost upon cowardice, until I chanced to
think of little Ajor alone in this same land and armed only with a knife! I was immediately filled with
shame; but in thinking the matter over since, I have come to the conclusion that my state of mind was
influenced largely by my approximate nakedness. If you have never wandered about in broad daylight
garbed in a bit of red-deer skin in inadequate length, you can have no conception of the sensation of
futility that overwhelms one. Clothes, to a man accustomed to wearing clothes, impart a certain
self-confidence; lack of them induces panic.
But no beast attacked me, though I saw several menacing forms passing through the dark aisles of the
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