Page:Edison Marshall--Shepherds of the wild.djvu/273

Rh hours of toil—digging tirelessly till his rooms were clean again. Through some incredible chance—perhaps because the great god Manitou had saved him for further work—the horse was uninjured, and soon regained his feet. But Fargo was hurled to the earth as the horse fell, and he only knew a great darkness that transcended and smothered him.

As if they were trying to restore his nervous forces for some great ordeal, the forest gods granted him a full hour of peaceful, restful slumber. But it was doubtful mercy. At the end of that hour they laughed—a sound, not greatly different from the crackle of a great fire, and began to call him into consciousness.

First they brought evil dreams, and Fargo started and murmured in his sleep, tossing a little on his bed of pine-needles. His look of triumph was gone from his brutal features now. Instead, there was a curious drawing and strain—and for all the sudden heat of the early night, cold drops on his brow. Still his eyes wouldn't open. He fought hard, and his quivering body rustled the dead leaves.

Curious streaks of light slashed before his eyeballs now—all colors, and they filled him with horror. But slowly remembrance returned to him. He had set the fire, and now it was time to ride away. He mustn't get caught in his own trap. He rallied all the powers of his spirit and fought for consciousness.