In an instant the herd was up with distended
eyeballs and lifted tails. The poison of fear was in them.
Looking back, Ted saw several men riding toward the herd at a terrific
pace. At the head of the band rode Shan Rhue and Sol Flatbush.
Then a remarkable thing happened: Every man of them produced a red
blanket. They dashed among the cattle waving the blankets in the faces
of the now terrified cattle.
"Look out for trouble," shouted Ted, for he saw at once the intention of
Shan Rhue. It was to stampede the herd.
The effort was immediately successful, for the terrified animals, with
a deafening roar that expressed abject fear, started forward on a
gallop, with a front as resistless as the prow of a battleship.
Stella was on the side of the herd opposite Ted.
She heard his warning cry, and then looked back at the herd. If she
stayed where she was, there was no escape from death, for by her side
was the sheer wall of the valley. There was only one way to safety, to
ride across to the side of Ted.
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