And three on a chalk-stone ledge.

And three have won to the Bon Homme Run

And stuck in the marsh-land sedge.

But Black Bear's horse still holds the course,

Though her breath is a thick-drawn moan,

And a length behind is the straining stride

Of the Captain's steel-limbed roan.

The Sergeant rides with a loose-thrown rein,

Nor sabre nor shoot will he

Till the pony has pitched at a gopher mound