With a tremendous bound the animal cleared the rope barrier, and in an instant was leaping toward the child and the approaching car.

The people gasped at the daring of the man who had not waited to think.

It was over in a second.

As Patches swept by the child, he leaned low from the saddle; and, as the next leap of his horse carried him barely clear of the machine, they saw his tall, lithe body straighten, as he swung the baby up into his arms.
Then, indeed, the crowd went wild.

Men yelled and cheered; women laughed and cried; and, as the cowboy returned the frightened baby to the distressed mother, a hundred eager hands were stretched forth to greet him.