They subsided--as a steel spring subsides when held down by a
weight--and went off in search of their mounts. Daylight had won the
skirmish in the east and was now attacking in force, and revealed a
sight which, stilling the profanity for the moment, caused it to flow
again with renewed energy. The plain was a shambles near the creek, and
dead and dying steers showed where the fence had stood. The rest of the
herd had passed over these. The wounded cattle and three horses were
put out of their misery as the first duty. The horse that Hopalong had
ridden had a broken back; the other two, broken legs. When this work was
out of the way the bruised and shaken men gave their attention to the
scattered cattle on the other side of the creek, and when Hawkins rode
up after wasting time in hunting for the trail in the dark, he saw
four men with the herd, which was still scattered; four others near the
creek, of whom only Johnny was mounted, and a group of six strangers
riding towards them from the west and along the fence, or what was left
of that portion of it.
"That's awful!" he cried, stopping his limping horse near Hopalong. "An'
here come the fools that done it."
"Yes," replied Johnny, his voice breaking from rage, "but they won't go
back again! I don't care if I'm killed if I can get one or two of that
crowd--"
"Shut up, Kid!" snapped Hopalong as the 4X outfit drew near.
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