His rush carried him not only up to them but among them.

Two or three youngsters swerved aside with frightened snorts, but as he came up behind a laboring mare she paused in her flight to let drive with both heels.

Alcatraz barely escaped the danger with a sidestep light as a dancer's and shortened his gallop.
He could not punish the mare for her impudence; besides, he needed time to rearrange his thoughts.

Why should they flee from a companion who intended no harm?
It was a great puzzle.

In the meantime, keeping easily at the heels of the wild horses, he noted that they were holding their pace better than any cowponies he had ever seen running.