Above the roar of the vehicles sounded the plaudits of the caballeros.
"Viva! Viva, Mendoza! Viva the California horses! Viva the Señorita Mendoza!"
A stone the size of a walnut caught in the hind shoe of Mendoza's wheeler. The steady pace of his horses broke.
The Hernandez animals pressed on.
"Swing out, boy, swing out! Sweep in from the side!" exulted Hernandez. "Victory for the Mexican horses!"
The driver turned his team. "Bueno, boy, bueno! Now straight ahead! Loose the rein! Let 'em go!"
The Mendoza postilion bent affectionately over his horse. "Fly, Mercurio! Fly! for the doña's sake!"
He unstrung his whiplash. It burned the leaders with living fire. They leaped forward, the tremendous stride flinging the pebbles from the wheeler's hoof.
Along the roadway the horses sped, lessening the Hernandez advantage at every bound. After them poured the yelling, gesticulating crowd.
A hundred paces only remained.