DREW SMILES When the cattleman felt the rope snap back to his hand he could not realize at first just what had happened.

The crack of the gun had been no louder than the snapping of a twig in that storming of the river, and the only explanation he could find was that the rope had struck some superlatively sharp edge of the rock and been sawed in two.

But examining the cut end he found it severed as cleanly as if a knife had slashed across it, and then it was he knew and threw the lariat to the ground.
When he saw Bard scramble up the opposite bank he knew that his game was lost and all the tables reversed, for the Easterner was a full two hours closer to the home of Drew than he was, with the necessary detour up to the ford.

The Easterner might be delayed by the unknown country for a time, but not very long.

He was sure to meet someone who would point the way.