Again the cat screamed—­close by—­but the girl never hesitated in her advance, and a few moments later she broke through the willows a dozen paces from the river bank.  Her eyes strained through the night; but no horses were to be seen.

The trail, cut by the hoofs of many animals, ran deep and straight down into the swirling water.  Upon the opposite side Brazos must be feeding or resting, just beyond reach.

Barbara dug her nails into her palms in the bitterness of her disappointment.  She followed down to the very edge of the water.  It was black and forbidding.  Even in the daytime she would not have been confident of following the ford—­by night it would be madness to attempt it.

She choked down a sob.  Her shoulders drooped.  Her head bent forward.  She was the picture of disappointment and despair.

“What can I do?” she moaned.  “Tomorrow they will shoot him!”

The thought seemed to electrify her.

“They shall not shoot him!” she cried aloud.  “They shall not shoot him while I live to prevent it!”

Again her head was up and her shoulders squared.  Tying the hackamore about her waist, she took a single deep breath of reassurance and stepped out into the river.  For a dozen paces she found no difficulty in following the ford.  It was broad and straight; but toward the center of the river, as she felt her way along a step at a time, she came to a place where directly before her the ledge upon which she crossed shelved off into deep water.  She turned upward, trying to locate the direction of the new turn; but here too there was no footing.  Down river she felt solid rock beneath her feet.  Ah! this was the way, and boldly she stepped out, the water already above her knees.  Two, three steps she took, and with each one her confidence and hope arose, and then the fourth step—­and there was no footing.  She felt herself lunging into the stream, and tried to draw back and regain the ledge; but the force of the current was too much for her, and, so suddenly it seemed that she had thrown herself in, she was in the channel swimming for her life.

The trend of the current there was back in the direction of the bank she had but just quitted, yet so strong was her determination to succeed for Billy Byrne’s sake that she turned her face toward the opposite shore and fought to reach the seemingly impossible goal which love had set for her.  Again and again she was swept under by the force of the current.  Again and again she rose and battled, not for her own life; but for the life of the man she once had loathed and whom she later had come to love.  Inch by inch she won toward the shore of her desire, and inch by inch of her progress she felt her strength failing.  Could she win?  Ah! if she were but a man, and with the thought came another:  Thank God that I am a woman with a woman’s love which gives strength to drive me into the clutches of death for his sake!