"Got a red mare that ain't much for runnin' cattle, but she's greased lightnin' for a short bust."
"Then get her out. Saddle her up, and be on your way. Here's my stake—I'll keep back one twenty for accidents. First gimme a list of the places you'll stop for the relays."
He produced an old envelope and a stub of soft pencil with which he jotted down Gary Peters' directions.
"And every second," said Buck Daniels in parting, "that you can cut off your own time will be a second cut off'n mine. Because I'm liable to be on your heels when you ride into Elkhead."
Gary Peters lifted his eyebrows and then restored his pipe. He spoke through his teeth.
"You ain't got a piece of money to bet on that, partner?" he queried softly.
"Ten extra if you get to Elkhead before me."
"They's limits to hoss-flesh," remarked Peters. "What time you ridin' against?"
"Against a cross between a bullet and a nor'easter, Gary. I'm going back to drink to your luck."
A promise which Buck Daniels fulfilled, for he had need of even borrowed strength. He drank steadily until a rattle of hoofs down the street entered the saloon, and then someone came in to say that Gary Peters had started out of town to "beat all hell, on his red mare."