The Black became uneasy. Alec reached over his back and desperately tried to pull the straps through the buckles. A searing pain went through his leg as one of the Black’s hoofs struck him. His leg went limp. Minutes passed as his fingers worked frantically. Then he had the straps through and began pulling the band tighter. The stallion went wild with rage as he felt it tighten around him. Alec pulled harder. Once again he felt the Black’s hoof strike his leg—but there was no pain. He had the straps through the buckles as far as they would go; he made sure they were securely fastened, and then wearily pushed himself away from the Black.

A safe distance away, Alec signaled the men on the freighter to hoist. He heard the starting of a motor and the chain line became more taut. Then the stallion was dragged through the water until he was beside the ship; his teeth were bared, his eyes were filled with hate! Then the hoist started lifting him up. Slowly the Black moved out of the water—up, up in the air he ascended, his legs pawing madly!

Alec swam toward the rowboat, his leg hanging limp behind him. When he reached it, Pat hung over the side and helped him up into the boat. “Good boy,” he said.

The pain in his leg made Alec’s head whirl. Blackness seemed to be settling down upon him—he shook his head. Then he felt Pat’s big arm around his waist and he went limp.

When Alec regained consciousness, he found himself in bed. Beside him sat Pat—a large grin on his face, his blue eyes crinkling in the corners. “For the love of St. Patrick,” he exclaimed, “I thought you were going to sleep forever!”

“What time is it, Pat?” Alec asked. “Have I been sleeping long?”

Pat ran a large, gnarled hand through his black hair. “Well, not so long, son—you were pretty tired, y’know.” He paused. “Let’s see, we picked you up Tuesday morning and now it’s Wednesday night.”

“Whew!” said Alec. “That’s some sleeping!”

“Well, we did wake you up a couple of times to give you some soup, but I guess you wouldn’t be remembering now.”

Alec moved slightly and felt a pain go through his leg. His eyes turned to Pat. “Did I get hurt bad?” he asked.

“The Doc says not—went to the bone, but it’s healing nicely. You’ll be all right in a few days.”

“And the Black—what happened?”

“Lad, never in my life did I ever expect to see the like of him! What a fight he put up—he almost tore the boat apart!” Pat’s blue eyes flashed. “Lord, what a devil! The moment his hoofs touched the deck he wanted to fight. If we hadn’t still had the band around him, he would have killed us all! He plunged and struck his legs out like I’ve never seen before. He wouldn’t stand still. You could have helped us, son. We hoisted him in the air again, off his feet. I thought he had gone crazy, his face was something terrible to see—and those screams, I’ll hear them to my dying day!”