Page:The Black Cat v06no11 (1901-08).djvu/12

6 The other man, who had a black handkerchief tied about his face below the eyes, nodded. He was not given to words.

They walked cautiously to the barn and went in.

"Some new stock," said the older man to himself, as he rubbed a white pony's nose. "Wonder what the fool's buyin' ponies for"

Leading the animals outside, the men mounted and rode away.

Perhaps it was just outside the barnyard gate, maybe a little farther on, that the older man, Wheeler, turning in his saddle, saw something following them. The new moon was low and outlines indistinct. Yet he could see that it was something gray and vast and shapeless, something that rolled rather than walked in its silent progress, yet was certainly gaining on them. Wheeler gasped in surprise and then in a whisper addressed his partner:

"Jim—in the name of the devil, what is that?"

Jim looked and said no word, for he was a silent man, but he lashed his pony. In another moment both were tearing down the road, the moving mountain swiftly following.

Through the open window Uncle Abner watched the early dawn creep across the brown field. There seemed little use in getting up. As the landscape grew brighter and brighter, objects began to be defined and in the still dim light he noticed something down the road that appeared much like a group of horses. In five minutes more he was certain they were horses. This was interesting and he sat up in bed. The horses were hitched to the fence. As the light grew stronger, he recognized them, one after another, and remarked upon them to himself:

"The roan is Johnson's—the one he traded Petersen the little mare for over on the South Fork this spring. The bay with the white feet is Judge Bronson's carriage horse, of course—there ain't another animal in the county stands like that. T'other bay belongs to the DeWitt boys. Now, what on earth are they all a-doin' down there?"

He slipped out of bed and called softly to the boys in the next room. Half dressed, they went together down stairs. From behind the back door Uncle Abner picked up the gopher rifle.

"Looks a little queer down there," he said, half apologetically.

So busy were they with their speculations concerning the horses that it was not until they were well down the road that they ob-