He was always wary when pieces fell into a pattern with so little trouble. He shrugged his shoulders and stood up. “That’s only because Henry and I have had to work hard for everything we have. We’ll never get used to people doing favors for us. How about you?” he asked the Black aloud.

The horse glanced his way but turned quickly back to the dogs. He snorted at them and for a moment their barking stopped, only to begin again louder than ever. The attendant in charge tried unsuccessfully to quiet them and then went back to reading his pocketbook.

Alec reached over the high sides of the stall to rub the Black’s neck. His coat had a rich glow, almost as if it had been rubbed with olive oil as was often done with show horses before they entered the ring. No need to do that to the Black. His shining coat reflected his good condition and health.

Alec glanced at the cabin door leading into the pilots’ compartment, and wondered how much longer Henry would remain up there. He was hoping to get more information about González from the crew, one of whom was Spanish.

A little later Henry returned, taking a seat beside Alec. “Not much,” he said. “This González is a gentleman rancher, raisin’ fighting bulls mostly. The Spaniard up there was surprised to learn he had race horses. Said his countrymen never have been very much interested in horse racin’ even though there’s a track in Madrid. Their taste runs more to the bulls. Racin’ one horse against another is too tame for them.” Henry chuckled. “That’s a laugh,” he added.

Alec said, “It’s a cinch they’ve never stood on the rail near the first turn.”

“No,” Henry agreed quietly, “they haven’t.” His tone tightened. “Anyway, no one up there knew anything about El Dorado.”

“And we’re crossing an ocean to see him,” Alec said. “It’s a long jump just to get a look at a stallion.”

“Not so long. Think of Abu Ishak going halfway around the world to look at the Black when he learned you had a horse that might be the one he’d lost.”

Alec nodded his head, thinking again of the Arab chieftain who had befriended him and changed the course of his life by bequeathing the Black to him.

Henry stood up. “Say, don’t these dogs ever shut up?”

“It doesn’t seem to be bothering him any.”

“It better not or there’d be trouble.”

Alec nodded. He had been watching the Black’s eyes and he knew there was nothing to be concerned about. The light that flickered and blazed in those eyes when his horse became excited or angry wasn’t pleasant to see, for then there was nothing fine and noble about the Black. He fought with fury, knowing no master, no love. At such times nothing remained but his wild desert instinct to kill.

The plane dropped suddenly and sickeningly. The air remained rough and Henry said, “We must be coming in. They said it’d be no more than another hour before landing.”

Alec looked out the window into the grayness of a heavy cloud bank. It was mid-afternoon and he hoped it would be clear below.

The big plane dropped into sunlight and Alec could see mountains and swift-flowing white streams tumbling down green hills. Just beyond, however, the landscape changed dramatically from lushness to brown, thirsty plains as golden and tawny as the desert.