MAN AND HORSE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 10319, 19 December 1896, Page 2 (Supplement)

MAN AND HORSE.

t The li'or&emeh fyi : * font,-In liuinber, The .li'orseraeh wt'ro four.iin'^nulnber, counting the prisoner. There were Viii Hevell, the Englishman, JoJ: Salter, and Silent Beto. Hope sprang tip full-grown and vigorously, - conquering • all other emotions hi Field's'breast; for under the slouched hat of the fourth horseman he recognised the blohtod face and sullen eyes of Brandy Bon. ?'•: •' "y , " We've done the job neatly and nob fivo minutes to . spare," drawled Silent I'ete, reining in his horse under the spreading arms of tho cotton wood tree. .''Guess we've saved you from v making an orkard mistake, boys. Hero i we've tho real criminal caught him red-handed, driving Reid's horses along the track to White Water Creok. Wo picketed them down by the river, and came on to save Field. Ben Griffon," he went on, turning to tho crouching figuro of that notorious rascal, " own up!" "Confess that you and no other stole Raid's horses/' said Vin Reveil in loud, | clear tones. "It's your only chance." '.'Yes, I took the burros, bad luck to them," grunted Brandy Ben, sulkily. " Wo ain't goin' to be donooutof our spree, anyway," declared Arizona Charlie, "in spite of your durnfld Anti-lynching Association, - We don't care a blamed rod cent whether wo hang Field or Brandy Ben. Someone's gor to swing on this tree, that's all,"

mail's aolng to bo limbed without a fair trial. None of you will lay a finger on Ben Griffon. We'll just ride baok to Miners' Gulch, and he'll bo lodged in tho gaol to await his trial. Field," ho added, going up to the half-dazed ranchman, and cutting tho thong of leather that bound his hands, " you're on tho side of law and justice, eh!" " I'm your man, for life or death. RoVoll," he said, brokenly. "If it's to baa fight I'll stand by you to tho last." But oven cowboys and miners on tho f'pree retain some shreds of common sense. A fiiiht between four such men as Rovell, Baker, l'ute, and Field against six good follows with whom they had riddon and " pardod, - ' eaten and drunk in amity, was nob to be seriously undertaken.' Brandy Ben's wretched carcase wasn't worth that game of chance, anyway. "Guess we'll join your association, Reveil. Lynching's a game that is pretty Well played out now, 'cept you're dealing with niggers," drawled Arizona Charlie, calmly, unknotting the. rope he had skilfully adjusted round Field's neck nwhilo since.

"Right you are, my lad," tiled Kovell, heartily. " Well this cotton tree's a lino shelter. Lets camp tun! sup under it." And in a quarter of an hour the tree that Was to serve as gallows spread its protecting arms over a jolly party, every member of which was bent on contributing something to the common stock. Arizona Clinrllo had lighted a firo, Kovoll mid some of the now members of the Antl-lynching Association produced tinned meat and Vegetables from capacious saddle-pockets. Field pickotcd the horses in a circle round Brandy Ben, whose wrists and ankles were tied With the rope that had nulled his own throat. Silent Pete, who was an excellent cook, and commonly carried one or two kitchen utensils strapped to his saddle, set himself to t,ho congenial task of preparing supper for the party. When the round-faced moon looked down an hour later on the scene, she beheld ten sleeping foi'nis stretched out in u radiating circle, of which the dying fire was the centre. Only one of the men, he who lay bound among the picketed mustangs,- met - the glance of the serdiie Queen of Night. It was Brandy Ben's turn now to tasto the bitterness of despair. Ho writhed and twisted on the ground, striving to break his' bonds. In vain he strove to wrench the knots, that Arizona Charlie had so skilfully tied. Then suddenly an inspiration came to him. lie rolled over and over towards the circle of horse*, and toftly called his beloved mustang, Wildfire. The horse knew her master's voice, whinnied lovingly, and snuffed the prostrate body of the horsestealer with affectionate solicitude.

. Brandy Ben possetsod, with all his faults, one virtue : ho loved his horsi) with almost ! Arab-like devotion. And as animals return j with generous interest any kindness vouchsafed them, Wildfire now concentrated all her intelligence to understand and . then to carry.out hor master's wishes. . The pantomime betwoen master and man. was only witnessed by the silent moon. First, Brandy Ben writhed to life knees and held up his rope'bound hands towards Wildfire, who rubbed her nose tenderly against them. Then, informed perohatice by somo swift, feminine flash of intuition, she bit

sharply at the knotted rope. . "Good lass I Bite away, bite hard," Whispered Brandy Ben, tenderly.. With right good will Wildfire gnawed at the knot. The shreds of hemp gave way, slowly bub surely; at last the filaments yielded, and Brandy Ban'u bands wero free. Now his task was easy. In Wildfire's tsddlfl'pookob wan hidden a sharp, strong knife. A few. swift cu to severed the rope which bound his ankles, -Ab . first tho numbed muscles caused him agony; but the prospect of freedom, the thought that escape was now possible, made his heart beat fast and sent the warm blood coursing through his chilled body. He gob on his feet, and then cub the picketing-rope, bounded on Wildfire's back, and soon the watching moon saw the freed prisoner galloping for dear lite westward across the silvery billows of tho gcassy ocean. Brandy Bon had won tho recompense of his one virtue. The only creature in the world that loved him had saved him from the hands of bis enemies,—From the Strand Magazine.