Page:Young Hunters in Porto Rico.djvu/63

Rh scratched in a dozen places, from which the blood streamed freely.

"'How's my bike?' were his first words; and I picked the machine up, to discover the front tire collapsed and the wheel twisted in two places.

"'That settles it; I can't ride any further tonight,' he groaned. 'You'll have to go it alone, Robert.'

"'And leave you?' I answered, quickly.

"'Yes, why not? I can take care of myself. I'll get to Wheatland somehow, by morning. Or you can send a horse and wagon out to meet me. Now, hurry up.'

"It would have been useless to argue with Rexwell, even had I felt inclined to do so, which was not the case; so with a cheering word, I went on alone through the wet and the gathering darkness.

"It was a solitary ride I shall never forget. I stopped once at the foot of a second hill, to light my lamp, and that was the only time I dismounted until I wheeled into the outskirts of Wheatland, panting for breath, my eyes bulging out of their sockets from the tremendous strain to which they had been subjected in the gloom, and my legs aching so greatly that I could scarcely stand upon them.

"'Show me the nearest way to the depot,' I