Curses loud and deep broke from his lips. He yelled to her to draw rein; but she only urged the horse on the faster.
He had searched the world over to find Bernardine Moore, and now that he had come across her by chance, she should not escape him like this.
A mere chit of a girl should not outwit him in that fashion.
A mad thought occurred to him.
There was but one way of stopping that horse and overtaking Bernardine, and that was to draw his revolver and shoot the animal dead in its tracks.
He liked the horse; but nothing on earth should prevent him from capturing the girl he still loved to desperation.
To think, with him, was to act; and quick as a flash, he drew a weapon from his hip-pocket, and the loud report of a shot instantly followed.
CHAPTER LVIII.
The shot which rang out so clearly on the early morning air missed its mark, and the noise only succeeded in sending Bernardine's horse along the faster. Taking one terrified glance backward, Bernardine saw Jasper Wilde's horse suddenly swerve, unseating her rider, and the next instant he was measuring his length in the dusty road-side.
The girl did not pause to look again, nor did she draw rein upon the panting steed, until, covered with foam, and panting for breath, he drew up of his own accord at the gate of Gardiner mansion.