lively gallop.

"Whoa-oo-ope!" cried Big-foot, riding in front of the plunging leaders.

He might as well have sought to stay the progress of the wind. The
leaders swept man and boy aside and dashed on.

"Better keep them straight and not try to stop them, hadn't we?" shouted
Tad, with rare generalship.

"That's the trick! Can you hold your side?" roared Big-foot in reply.

"I'll try," answered the boy, riding so close to the leaders that they
rubbed sides with his pony. The latter, understanding what was wanted of
him, pushed sturdily on holding the cattle with his side, leaning toward
them to give the effort the benefit of his entire weight.

One end of Tad's neckerchief had come loose and was streaming straight
out behind him, while the broad brim of his sombrero was tipped up by
the rushing breeze.

It was a wild and perilous ride. Yet the lad thought nothing of this.
His whole thought was centered on the work in hand, that of keeping the
cattle headed northward. Tad was unable to tell whether they were going
in a straight line or not, but this time he had the big cowman to rely
upon.

"Give way a little!" warned Big-foot.

"Right!" answered the lad, pulling his pony to one side, then
straightening him again.

"We'll hit the Injun Territory by daylight if we keep on at this gait!
You all right?"

"Yes. But I think the herd is spreading out behind me," answered Tad.

"Never mind that. They'll likely follow the leaders."

Off to the rear they could hear the sharp reports of the cowboys'
revolvers as they sought to stay the mad rush. Big-foot, however, had
thought it best not to resort to shooting tactics. They were making
altogether too good headway. If only they were able to keep the cattle
headed the way they were going the herd would be none the worse off for
the rush and the outfit would be that much further along on the journey.
The thundering hoof-beats behind them as the living tide swept down upon
them, was not a pleasant sound to hear. Yet Big-foot and Tad were
altogether too busy to be greatly disturbed by it.

They had gone on for fully half an hour, after that, with no apparent
decrease in the speed of the stampede. The ponies were beginning to show
their fatigue. Tad slowed down a little, patting his faithful little
animal to encourage it and quiet its nerves.

As he did so, the boy's attention was again called to the fact that a
solid wall of cattle had apparently closed in behind him