"
Jane bit her tongue to refrain from championing men who at the
very moment were proving to her that they were little and mean
compared even with rustlers.
"Look!...Jane, them leadin' steers have bolted. They're drawin'
the stragglers, an' that'll pull the whole herd."
Jane was not quick enough to catch the details called out by
Lassiter, but she saw the line of cattle lengthening. Then, like
a stream of white bees pouring from a huge swarm, the steers
stretched out from the main body. In a few moments, with
astonishing rapidity, the whole herd got into motion. A faint
roar of trampling hoofs came to Jane's ears, and gradually
swelled; low, rolling clouds of dust began to rise above the
sage.
"It's a stampede, an' a hummer," said Lassiter.
"Oh, Lassiter! The herd's running with the valley! It leads into
the canyon! There's a straight jump-off!"
"I reckon they'll run into it, too. But that's a good many miles
yet. An', Jane, this valley swings round almost north before it
goes east. That stampede will pass within a mile of us."
The long, white, bobbing line of steers streaked swiftly through
the sage, and a funnel-shaped dust-cloud arose at a low angle. A
dull rumbling filled Jane's ears.
"I'm thinkin' of millin' that herd," said Lassiter. His gray
glance swept up the slope to the west. "There's some specks an'
dust way off toward the village.
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