s he rode, his hopes rose
gradually; his confidence, to a degree, returned; and he even began to
have a kind of curiosity as to what form their attempted revenge would
take.

The slowness of their progress down the creek-bed had given him
satisfaction, but once they left the water, there was no cause for
congratulation as they quirted their horses at a breakneck speed over
rocks and gullies in the direction of the Bad Lands. He could see that
they had some definite destination, for when the horses veered somewhat to
the south, Running Rabbit motioned them northward.

"He was there yesterday; Running Rabbit knows," said Bear Chief, in answer
to an Indian's question; and Smith, listening, wondered where "there"
might be, and what it was that Running Rabbit knew.

He asked himself if it could be that they were taking him to some desert
spring, where they meant to tie him to die of thirst in sight of water.
The alkali plain held many forms of torture, as he knew.

His captors did not taunt or insult him. They rode too hard, they were too
much in earnest, to take the time for byplay. It was evident to Smith that
they feared pursuit, and were anxious to reach their objective point
before the sun rose. He knew this from the manner in which they watched
the east.

Somehow, as the miles sped under their horses' feet, the ride became more
and more unreal to Smith. The moon, big, glorious, and late in rising,
silvered the desert with its white light until they looked to be riding
into an ocean. It made Smith think of the Big Water, by moonlight, over
there on the Sundown slope. Even the lean, dark figures riding beside him
seemed a part of a dream; and Dora, when he thought of her, was shadowy,
unreal. He had a strange feeling that he was galloping, galloping out of
her life.

[Illustration: THEY QUIRTED THEIR HORSES AT BREAKNECK SPEED IN THE
DIRECTION OF THE BAD LANDS.]

There were times when he felt as if he were floating. His sensations were
like the hallucinations of fever, and then he would find himself called
back to a realization of facts by the swish of leather thongs on a horse's
flank, or some smothered, half-uttered imprecation when a horse stumbled.
The air of the coming morning fanned his cheeks, its coolness stimulated
him, and something of the fairy-like beauty of the white world around him
impressed even Smith.

They had left the flatter country behind them, and were riding among hills
and limestone cliff