It might have been something quite other than this which made
him consistently keep to the rear; Nash felt certain that the second
possibility was the truth.
In that case his work would be doubly hard. From all that he had seen
the man was dangerous--the image of the tame puma returned to him again
and again. He could not see him plainly through the dark of the night,
but he caught the sway of the body and recognized a perfect
horsemanship, not a Western style of riding, but a good one no matter
where it was learned. He rode as if he were sewed to the back of the
horse, and, as old William Drew had suggested, he probably did other
things up to the same standard. It would have been hard to fulfil his
promise to Drew under any circumstances with such a man as this; but
with Bard apparently forewarned and suspicious the thing became almost
impossible.
Almost, but not entirely so. He set himself calmly to the problem; on
the horn of his saddle the lariat hung loose; if the Easterner should
turn his back for a single instant during all the time they were
together old Drew should not be disappointed, and one thousand cash
would be deposited for the mutual interest of Sally Fortune and himself.
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