ight when he came upon the
animal.

"Follow me, Jack," he said cheerily; "if you ever did your best, now is
the time. The lives of us all depend upon you. Have a care, my boy, or
you will slip."

In his eagerness the youth descended the slope faster than was prudent.
Jack did slip, but quickly recovered himself, and no harm seemed to
have been done.

It was but a short way to the edge of the prairie, where the pause was
long enough to see that the trappings were right, when the young rancher
swung himself into the saddle, twitched the rein, and said:

"Come!"

The gallant fellow, with a sniff of delight, sprang away, and sped with
a swiftness which few of his kind could surpass. The snowy plain
stretched in front, and he darted over it as though his hoofs scorned
the earth. The still air became a gale, which whistled about the ears of
the youth, who felt the thrill that comes to one when coursing on the
back of a noble horse to whom the rapid flight is as pleasant as to the
rider.

It was now near meridian. A long distance remained to be passed, and
since a goodly portion of it was rough and precipitous, the young
rancher felt little hope of reaching Fort Meade before nightfall.

"If we could have such travelling as this," he reflected, "we would be
there in a few hours, but there are places where you will have to walk,
and others where it will be hard work to travel at all."

It was a discomforting thought, but it was the fact; since the youth was
not following the regular trail leading from the ranch to the fort at
the foot of the Black Hills. But his familiarity with the country and
the daylight ensured him against going astray; he was certain to do the
best possible thing under the circumstances.

Two miles had been passed at this brilliant pace, and Warren was as
hopeful as ever, when he became aware of an alarming truth, and one
which caused a feeling of consternation--Jack was falling lame. That
slip made in descending the lower part of the ridge, just before his
owner mounted him, was more serious than he had suspected. It had
injured the ankle of the horse so that, despite the gallantry with which
he struggled, it not only troubled him, but with every leap he made over
the plain it grew worse.

It was a condition of things enough to cause consternation on the part
of the rider, for it put an end to his hope of reaching the fort that
day. True, he could continue the advance on foot, but, doing his u