CHAPTER X.
A HOT PURSUIT.
It may be said Mont Sterry answered his own question at the moment of asking it, for, bringing his Winchester to his shoulder, he let fly at the rustlers, and then with a word and touch of the spur sent Queenie bounding away with arrowy swiftness.
Unquestionably it was a daring act on his part, but there was wisdom in it.

He knew those men were seeking his life, and would shoot him, as they had threatened to do, on sight.

When they met, it would be a question simply as to which got the drop on the other.
They were preparing to make a rush at him, and while he had no fear of a contest of speed between Queenie and any animal that "wore horse-hair," they were altogether too near at the beginning of the contest, and the chance of using their rifles was too much against him.
The crack of the Winchester accompanying his sharp reply, with the whistle of the bullet about their heads, gave them a momentary shock, which delayed the pursuit for a few precious seconds.
This was the object of the fugitive, for, while that brief interval was thrown away by them, he improved it to the utmost.

At such crises a few rods count immensely, and they were made to count on the side of Mont Sterry.
They were insufficient, however, to take him beyond peril.

Men like those horsemen are quick to recover from a surprise, and it would have seemed that Sterry was hardly started in his flight when they were speeding after him.