But one of this race will easily tire out and even kill one of the larger breed from the States, and yet, after a short rest and mouthful of short grass, be as well and fresh as ever. For hours they can be urged on at full speed, without giving way beneath the strain.
And so, though beneath the saddle well-nigh that entire day, Clara’s horse sped on without flinching, and the maiden saw with joy that she was nearly, if not quite, maintaining her vantage ground.
But still, of what avail? How would it all end? She was fleeing further with each moment, from her friends, and in trying to avoid one death, seemed but rushing upon another, scarcely less terrible.
For fully an hour the race swept on, without any great change in the relative positions. The shades of night were now upon the prairie, and the moon not yet having risen, all around was dark and gloomy.
Clara could see that she was nearing high ground, but as she looked to see if she could not skirt it, the dim outlines of a long range met her eye, extending for miles upon either hand. Though fearful of losing ground, there was nothing for it but to dare the steep ascent.
In a few minutes more, the fugitive was at the base of a rugged hill, and then as the shrill yells of exultation came up from the pursuers behind her, Clara urged her laboring horse up the steep ascent.
It was hard work for the already overtasked animal, but it nobly responded to the call, and although more than once stumbling, it struggled on until the extreme crest was gained. But then as it dashed down the steep declivity, the mustang’s hoof rested upon a loose stone, and it pitched forward, head-first, flinging its rider violently to the ground. Then arising, it still kept on, snorting wildly.
Clara felt a shock, then that she was falling—falling down what seemed an interminable depth, and then, with a frightful shock her downward course seemed to be checked. This; and then followed a blank.
A blank, so far as any definite sensation was concerned, and yet not entirely one, either. For it seemed—faint and indistinct, as in a dream—as though she was shortly afterward surrounded by phantom figures, and a far-away hum as of human voices in consultation, was also in the vision, if vision it was.
The figures seemed to raise her from the ground and then convey her gently through the air for what seemed an almost interminable length of time. Then she was placed upon the cool ground beside a murmuring rivulet, when cool water was sprinkled over her face, while warm, soft hands chafed her own.