Luckily he had already summoned every faculty for instant action, and now he acted.

He uttered a sudden shout, and raked the side of his horse with both spurs.
His horse was not only large and powerful but of a most high spirit.
When he heard that shout and felt the burning slash of the spurs he made a blind but mighty leap forward.

The horse of the first stranger, smitten by so great a weight, fell in the road and his rider went down with him.

The enraged horse then leaped clear of both and darted forward at headlong speed.
As his horse sprang Dick threw himself flat upon his neck, and the bullet that the second man fired whistled over his head.

By impulse he drew his own pistol and fired back.