His own home was to be their first point of attack, and those who resisted were to be shot down.
He waited to hear no more, but, keeping in the shadow of the boughs and riding at first in a walk, he went on toward Pendleton.

He was sure that Skelly's men had not heard his hoofbeats, as there was no sound of pursuit, and, three or four hundred yards further, he changed from a walk to a gallop.

Careless of the dark and of all risks of the road, he drove the horse faster and faster.

He was on familiar ground.
He knew every hill and dip, almost every tree, but he did not pause to notice anything.
Soon he saw a light, then a dark outline, and his heart throbbed greatly.

It was his father's house, standing among the clipped pines, and he was in time! Now his horse's feet thundered on the brief stretch of road that was left, and in another minute he was at the gate opening on the lawn.