He was just in time to catch a glimpse of the Comanche, darting through the bush in a direction almost the opposite of that which he had been following so long.
“How the mischief did you get there?” was the astonished exclamation of the Texan, as he again brought his rifle to a level.
At the moment of doing so, he comprehended how it all came about. The Comanche had darted directly under the mustang, doing so with a quickness and skill that baffled the eye of his foe. Few, even of his own people, could have performed the exploit which he executed with perfection.
Ballyhoo Gleeson lowered his gun.
“You can go! I’ll be hanged if you don’t deserve to get away after that trick!”
CHAPTER XXII.
THUNDERBOLT.
Avon Burnet knew that when the cattlemen reached a point within a half mile of his home, and the fire had not yet been started, that all danger was over. It was beyond the power of the assailants, with the slight time at their command, to harm the defenders.