The two pack animals came next, and Lash brought up the rear.
Once started with protection assured for the girl and a real objective
point in view, Gale relaxed from the tense strain he had been laboring
under. How glad he would have been to acquaint Thorne with their
good fortune! Later, of course, there would be some way to get word
to the cavalryman. But till then what torments his friend would suffer!
It seemed to Dick that a very long time had elapsed since he stepped
off the train; and one by one he went over every detail of incident
which had occurred between that arrival and the present moment. Strange
as the facts were, he had no doubts. He realized that before that
night he had never known the deeps of wrath undisturbed in him; he
had never conceived even a passing idea that it was possible for him
to try to kill a man. His right hand was swollen stiff, so sore
that he could scarcely close it. His knuckles were bruised and
bleeding, and ached with a sharp pain. Considering the thickness of
his heavy glove, Gale was of the opinion that so to bruise his hand
he must have struck Rojas a powerful blow. He remembered that for
him to give or take a blow had been nothing. This blow to Rojas,
however, had been a different matter. The hot wrath which had been
his motive was not puzzling; but the effect on him after he had
cooled off, a subtle difference, something puzzled and eluded him.
The more it baffled him the more he pondered.
Pages:
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79