Part 110 (2/2)

And no wonder: for the spectacle upon which it rested was one to terrify the stoutest heart.

The sun had stolen up above the horizon of the prairie, and was behind the rider's back, in the direct line of the course he had been pursuing.

Before him, along the heaven's edge, extended a belt of bluish mist-- the exhalation arising out of the chapparal--now not far distant. The trees themselves were unseen--concealed under the film floating over them, that like a veil of purple gauze, rose to a considerable height above their tops--gradually merging into the deeper azure of the sky.

On this veil, or moving behind it--as in the transparencies of a stage scene--appeared a form strange enough to have left the spectator incredulous, had he not beheld it before. It was that of the Headless Horseman.

But not as seen before--either by Calhoun himself, or any of the others.

No. It was now altogether different. In shape the same; but in size it was increased to tenfold its original dimensions!

No longer a man, but a Colossus--a giant. No longer a horse, but an animal of equine shape, with the towering height and huge ma.s.sive bulk of a mastodon!

Nor was this all of the new to be noted about the Headless Horseman. A still greater change was presented in his appearance; one yet more inexplicable, if that could possibly be. He was no longer walking upon the ground, but against the sky; both horse and rider moving in an inverted position! The hoofs of the former were distinctly perceptible upon the upper edge of the film; while the shoulders--I had almost said _head_--of the latter were close down to the line of the horizon! The serape shrouding them hung in the right direction--not as regarded the laws of gravity, but the att.i.tude of the wearer. So, too, the bridle reins, the mane, and sweeping tail of the horse. All draped _upwards_!

When first seen, the spectral form--now more spectre-like than ever--was going at a slow, leisurely walk. In this pace it for some time continued--Calhoun gazing upon it with a heart brimful of horror.

All of a sudden it a.s.sumed a change. Its regular outlines became confused by a quick transformation; the horse having turned, and gone off at a trot in the opposite direction, though still with his heels against the sky!

The spectre had become alarmed, and was retreating!

Calhoun, half palsied with fear, would have kept his ground, and permitted it to depart, but for his own horse; that, just then shying suddenly round, placed him face to face with the explanation.

As he turned, the tap of a shod hoof upon the prairie turf admonished him that a real horseman was near--if that could be called real, which had thrown such a frightful shadow.

”It's the _mirage_!” he exclaimed, with the addition of an oath to give vent to his chagrin. ”What a fool I've been to let it humbug me!

There's the d.a.m.ned thing that did it: the very thing I'm in search of.

And so close too! If I'd known, I might have got hold of him before he saw me. Now for a chase; and, by G.o.d, I'll _grup_ him, if I have to gallop to the other end of Texas!”

Voice, spur, and whip were simultaneously exerted to prove the speaker's earnestness; and in five minutes after, two hors.e.m.e.n were going at full stretch across the prairie--their horses both to the prairie born--one closely pursuing the other--the pursued without a head; the pursuer with a heart that throbbed under a desperate determination.

The chase was not a long one--at least, so far as it led over the open prairie; and Calhoun had begun to congratulate himself on the prospect of a capture.

His horse appeared the swifter; but this may have arisen from his being more earnestly urged; or that the other was not sufficiently scared to care for escaping. Certainly the grey steed gained ground--at length getting so close, that Calhoun made ready his rifle.

His intention was to shoot the horse down, and so put an end to the pursuit.

He would have fired on the instant, but for the fear of a miss. But having made more than one already, he restrained himself from pulling trigger, till he could ride close enough to secure killing shot.

While thus hesitating, the chase veered suddenly from off the treeless plain, and dashed into the opening of the timber.

This movement, unexpected by the pursuer, caused him to lose ground; and in the endeavour to regain it, more than a half mile of distance was left behind him.

He was approaching a spot well, too well, known to him--the place where blood had been spilt.

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