had life, so long did hope remain.

Warren would have been as eager to befriend the brave fellow as the
latter would have been to aid him; but, as we have said, there was no
dodging the fact that it was out of his power. What, therefore, should
he do for himself and the other loved ones for whom all this danger had
been incurred?

Where were that father, mother, and little sister? They might be in
equally sore distress, and longer delay on his part perhaps would decide
the question of life or death.

Stealthily withdrawing again, until well beyond sight of the group, he
began carefully descending the side of the ridge toward the open
prairie. In doing so, he avoided doubling on his own trail, for at any
moment some of the Sioux were liable to start out on a tour of
investigation, which would bring them face to face with him.

With all his senses on the alert, he threaded his way among the trees
and around the rocks and bowlders, until he stood on the base of the
elevation, with the broad plain, across which he and his friend had fled
in such desperate haste, stretching out before him for many miles.

But another sight interested him. Along the foot of the ridge were
scattered nearly a dozen Indian ponies, cropping as best they could the
grass, whose tops faintly showed above the thin coating of snow. Their
owners had abandoned them in their haste, without thought of securing
them to any of the limbs, confident that they would be found within
reach when wanted.

They were tough little animals, without saddle or bridle. The majority
had a blanket roughly secured over the back, with a thong about the
upper part of the neck, which was all that was needed to guide them
wherever their masters willed.

But there was one animal worth all the rest for whom the eyes of the
youth eagerly searched among the group, scattered at varying distances.
He would have given anything for a sight of his own Jack at that moment.

To his astonishment, he saw nothing of him. Through some unaccountable
cause, he had vanished as utterly as if he had never existed.

In the vain hope of discovering him, Warren glanced from one to the
other, until he had surveyed each one several times over. But there was
no mistake; Jack was invisible.

The fact caused him keen regret, but it would not do to tarry, with the
certainty that the Sioux would soon learn the truth and be after him
like a whirlwind. One or two of their ponies were almost as fle