THE THIEF They came with a rush, at that.

The mares the girl prized so highly were, in the phrase of the cowpunchers, "high-headed fools" incapable of taking care of themselves.

Running wild through the night, as likely as not they would cut themselves to pieces on the first barbed wired fence that blocked their way.

With such a thought to urge them, Marianne's hired men caught their fastest mounts and saddled like lightning.

There was a play of ropes and curses in the big corral, the scuffle of leather as saddle after saddle flopped into place, and then a stream of dim riders darted through the corral gate.
All of this, dazed by the misfortune, Marianne waited to see, but as the first of the pursuers darted out of sight she turned and ran to the box stall where she kept her favorite pony, a nimble bay, inimitable on a mountain trail and with plenty of foot on the flat.