"I guess th' end of th' world's more important,"—as he turned away, "but to me, an' compared to this, it's a small sized accident."
He walked slowly out into the street and paused to look calculatingly at Abe. Then, turning abruptly, struck by a new possibility, he ran across to the Manzanita House, entered the door, strode into the office, took down the telephone receiver and rattled the hook impatiently.
"I want Hi Boyd's ranch," he said to the operator. Then, after a wait in which he shifted from foot to foot and swore under his breath: "Hello ... Boyd's? Is this Hi Boyd? It is? ... Well Hi, this is Bruce Bayard an' I've got to have a horse from you this mornin'...."
"A horse!" came the thin, distant exclamation over the wire. "Everybody wants horses off me today...."
"But I've got to have one, Hi! It's mighty important. Yours is th' only ranch that's on my way—"
"... an' we let one get away this mornin'," the voice went on, not pausing for Bruce's insistence, "'fore daylight an' left a lady who spent th' night with us a foot. We had to go catch up another for 'em an' Lytton—Ned Lytton, was th' man—only got on two hours ago ... three hours late! No, they ain't a horse on th' place that'll ride."
"Can't you catch one for me?" Bruce persisted.
"How? Run him down on foot? If I was a young man like you, I might, but now...."
Bayard slammed up the receiver and turned away, staring at the floor. He walked into the street again, looking about almost wildly. One by one the agencies that might prevent the impending catastrophe out yonder had been rendered helpless. The automobile, the chance of getting a change horse, his haste in riding to Yavapai and its consequent inroads made upon Abe's strength.
"I'm playin' with a stacked deck!" he muttered, as he approached the stallion. "There ain't another horse in this country equal to you even after your mornin's work," he said, looking at the breathing, sweat darkened creature. "I wouldn't ask you to do it for anybody else, Boy. But ... won't you do it for her? She sent for me. Will you take me back? It'll mean a lot to her, let alone what it means to me ... if I don't stop him.