“I was just coming up from the spring,” Dick recounted as between them they led the cow homeward, “when I heard Nicholas bark, so I ran around the corner of the cabin and there she was, just going over the hill a quarter of a mile away. At first I thought I could stop her alone, but when I saw the two Indians driving her, I ran back and signaled for you. Here, let’s lead her along the valley. I am out of breath chasing her up hills.”
“Aren’t you hurt?” inquired Hugh anxiously as they trudged along.
Hulda still made the going difficult, jerking and snorting with excitement. Her calm disposition, once completely roused, seemed almost impossible to soothe.
“Pshaw, no, the bullet hardly touched me,” Dick replied. “What surprises me is that they let us get her with only one shot fired. I don’t quite understand.”
“I wonder—” began Hugh, then paused, for a thought had struck him.
