the Prairie King suspects!"

The great white stallion raised his head a little higher. It may be that
he caught a glimpse of the tawny form and yellow, hungry eyes amid the
foliage of the bough, or it may be that a sudden flaw in the wind brought
to his nostrils the pungent odor of the big cat. He reared and stamped,
the startled colt turned away, and the cougar, afraid that he was about to
lose his chance, sprang.

A yellow compact mass, bristling with sharp, white teeth and long, hooked
claws shot through the air, but the distance was too great. The colt had
turned just in time, and the cougar fell short. He gathered himself
instantly for another spring, but quick as he was, he was not quick
enough.

The boys heard a fierce neigh, and the great stallion, wild with rage,
launched himself upon the cougar. Agile and powerful though the great cat
was, the sharp hoofs trampled him down. Taken at a disadvantage, just at
the moment when his first spring had spent itself, he was no match for the
protector of the herd. No bone could resist the impact of those heavy
terrible hoofs. No skull was thick enough to save. The cougar squealed,
clawed, and bit wildly, but in an incredibly quick space he was trampled
to death and lay quite still. The boys believed that every bone in him
must have been broken.

The herd had run some distance away in fright at the cougar's leap, but
while the swift combat lasted it stood looking on. Now the stallion, after
a last look at the slain robber, turned and walked away in triumph to the
herd that he had protected so well. It seemed to the glorified fancy of
the boys that he held his head higher than ever, and that his great mane
and tail flowed away in new ripples. He stalked proudly at the head of the
herd down to the other side of the prairie, where they went placidly on
with their grazing.

"That is certainly one thing that turned out right," said Paul in a
gratified tone.

"The hoofs of a powerful and enraged wild stallion are a terrible thing,"
said Henry. "Even a deer, which is far smaller, can kill a man with its
hoofs. But if you'll look again, Paul, you'll see that a new danger
threatens our king of horses."

Paul followed Henry's gaze, and he distinctly saw two or three human
figures at the edge of the wood. These figures were hidden from the horses
by a swell of the prairies, and, as in the case of the cougar, the wind
blew their odor away. "Indians?" asked Paul.

"I can't t