He swung the glass
for the last time to the south; it caught the glint of some moving
creature.
He focused his attention, but the object disappeared. A full five
minutes passed before it came out of the intervening valley but then,
bursting over the hilltop, it swept enormous into the power of the
glass--Alcatraz, and at full gallop!
There was no shadow of a doubt, for though it was the first time he
had been able to watch the stallion at close hand he recognized the
long and effortless swing of that gallop. Next he remembered those
stories of the charmed life and the tales he had mocked at before now
became possible truths. He caught up his gun to make sure, but when
his left hand slipped under the barrel to the balance and the butt of
the gun pulled into the hollow of his shoulder, he became of rocklike
steadiness. Swinging the gun to the left he caught Alcatraz full in
the readly circle of the sights and over his set teeth the lips curled
in a smile; the trail had ended! The slightest movement of his finger
would beckon the life out of that marauder, but as one who tastes the
wine slowly, inhales its bouquet, places the vintage, even so Red
Perris delayed to taste the fruition of his work.
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