All along behind Scott men were fleeing from their homes as from a pestilence with their families and most valuable possessions in wagons and driving their stock before them. There was many a backward glance at the homes which would probably be ruined when they saw them again.
After each stop Scott watched Jed anxiously to see if he was in distress but each time the noble animal took up his task willingly and was soon back in his swinging run which sent the miles flying behind him.
There was nothing ahead of him now but the town only two miles away, and Jed was pounding over the level plain with hoof beats as regular as the ticking of a watch. The town was all aglow with lights and the people were busy with their everyday affairs, ignorant of the impending danger.
Scott shouted his warning to every man he saw as he galloped up the main street and left a trail of confusion behind him. By the time he reached the hotel the news was ahead of him. The supervisor ran out of the hotel to meet him. A cowboy on a fresh horse galloped away with the warning for the people below the town.
Scott threw himself from the saddle without counting on the effect of the long, hard ride. His knees doubled under him like the blades of a jackknife and sent him sprawling in the street. A dozen eager hands helped him to his feet. He wriggled from them and staggered over to examine Jed. The big black was tired and showed it. His long barrel was heaving like a pair of bellows and his nostrils were distended to big red circles, but he was holding his head well up and he had his legs well under him. Scott threw his arms around the horse’s neck and hugged him there before them all.
“Where did you come from?” Mr. Ramsey asked.
“Clear from the dam,” Scott said proudly, “and he ran every step of the way.”
“Didn’t run down that cañon trail from the dam, did he?” one of the men grinned.
“You bet he did,” Scott said. “He was running away with me then; I did not get control of him till we passed the lookout station.”
It was perfectly natural in this country of horsemen that the first interest should have been in the performance of the horse. There was no actual danger there at the town. The valley was so wide and level at this point and it was so far from the cañon that at the very worst there would be only a few inches of water in the streets and a few flooded cellars. The storekeepers were busy getting their supplies from the cellars and off the main floors on to the shelves, but they had all the help they could use and there were plenty of people left over with nothing to do but watch and wait and talk.