But the coach was saved. Had the horses swerved in their course all would have been killed. As it was, the dangerous place was safely crossed and the stage emerged upon a broad plateau.
The driver stopped the horses, and, dismounting from the box, came around to the coach door.
"I congratulate you, gentlemen," he said. "We had a close shave, but we are out of danger. Dick Hawley will rob no more stages."
"Driver, you are a brave man—you have saved us," said one of the passengers.
"It was not I; it was the horses."
"Then you did not start them up?"
"No; I should not have dared to do it. They were frightened by the revolver and took the matter into their own hands."
"Dick Hawley was foolhardy. Had he ever stopped a stage at this point before?"
"Yes, he did so last year."
"And succeeded?"