fully for the farther bank, and before
his owner could think of calling to him, owing to his own flurry, he
heard his hoofs stamp the hard earth. True, he had landed, but that
brief space of deep water was as bad as if its width were ten times as
great; it could not be passed without the saturation of the garments of
all, and that, as has been said, was not to be endured.

Before the mare could return Mr. Starr called to his pony, and the
animal promptly obeyed, emerging only a minute after the mare from the
point where he had entered.

"It's no use," he said to his waiting wife and little one; "there is one
place where the horses must swim."

"Did you get wet, papa?" enquired Dot, solicitous for his welfare.

"No; but I came mighty near it."

"Then I suppose we must follow down the stream, and try it elsewhere,"
said the wife.

"Yes, with the discouraging fact that we are likely to pass a dozen
fordable points, and strike a place that is deeper than anywhere else."

The saddles were readjusted, and the move made without delay. Since it
was hard to thread their way through the wood, which lined the stream
only a short distance from the water, they withdrew from it to the
prairie, where travelling was easier.

Reaching the open plain, but keeping close to the margin of the timber,
from which, fortunately, they had emerged at a point considerably
removed from that of the entrance, the rancher repeated the precaution
he had used before.

"Wait a moment," he said, in a low voice.

Once more the snow was brushed aside at his feet and the ear pressed
against the ground.

To his dismay he heard the tramp of horses' hoofs on the hard earth.

"They are near at hand!" he said, in a startled whisper; "we must get
away as quickly as we can."

He hastily helped his wife and little one on the back of the mare,
mounted his own animal, and, with the pack-horse at the rear, moved
along the timber on a rapid walk, continually peering off in the gloom,
as though it was possible for him to see the Sioux, who certainly were
at no great distance.

One fear troubled him: Suppose they should resort to the same artifice
as he, and one of them appeal to the earth for evidence. He would be
equally quick to discover the proximity of the fugitives, and with his
sense of hearing trained to the finest point by many years' exercise,
would locate the whites with unerring precision.

CHAPTER XV.

MISSING.

But there was no