SON OF THE WIND
"D'yer mean to tell me that's he?" the other demanded, pointing to where the ripple was running like a snake along the tops of the bushes.
"Lord, yes! He can go as fast as a coyote! You'll never get up to him now!" His face was red, and his voice piped through his laboring breath. He looked furiously at Carron. "Why didn't you hold on to him? Why in hell did you let him get by you?"
"How in hell was I to know he was going by? He was coming toward us, as if he wanted something."
The elder Ferrier snarled with disdain. "Of course! That's what he meant you to think! That's what he was aiming for from the start—that's how he fooled you." He triumphed in Carron's discomfiture; was proud for once of his brother's attainment. "Oh, he fooled you fast enough! He's smart enough sometimes! Look, look!" His voice broke off its scorn, and quavered suddenly sharp. Both men stared aloft.
Above the scrub, higher than the trees, against the face of the bare rock, the wild figure had reappeared. It stood poised, looking down upon them; and to their over-alert senses it wore an air of mocking triumph. The sight of it was too much for Ferrier. An inarticulate grunt came from between his
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