The lay of the land was with me.

It was pretty level, and on level goin' Long Bess is almost as fast as Satan; but on rocky goin' Satan is like a goat--nothin' stops him! And I was ridin' Long Bess like to bust her heart, straight towards McCauley's.

We wasn't more'n a mile away when I thought--the wind was behind me, you see--that I heard a sort of far off whistling down the wind! My God!" He could not go on for a moment, and Kate Cumberland sat with parted lips, twisting her fingers together and then tearing them apart once more.
"Well, that mile was the worst in my life.

I thought maybe the man I'd sent on ahead hadn't been able to leave me a relay at McCauley's, and if he hadn't I knew I'd die somewhere in the hills beyond.

And they looked as black as dead men, and all sort of grinnin' down at me.
"But when I got to McCauley's, there stood a hoss right in front of the house.