ed from Bear Forks
trail and rode in under the precipice that overhung the entrance to
Pebbly Pit.

"Whoever it is, they are coming here," said Polly.

"I wonder if it could be Mr. Latimer and Dr. Evans--they may have
arrived in Oak Creek sooner than they expected," ventured Eleanor.

"We can watch better from this point than anywhere else, and when they
pass the Rainbow Cliffs, we can see who they are," now said Polly.

So they watched impatiently until the riders came from under the hanging
walls of rock, and rode again along the top of the shale that covered a
wide area between the ravines and the Cliffs.

This great stretch of shale was very treacherous going, as on the both
sides were deep gulches, or erosions, made by floods from thaws and
storms. An abandoned trail ran quite close to one of these ravines but
the land-slides of shale had compelled the people at Pebbly Pit to break
out a new and safer trail through the middle of the field. To strange
eyes, the old trail on the edge of the gulch, was the harder and easier
going, but every one coming to the ranch knew the center-trail to be the
one always used. Strangers seldom visited Pebbly Pit, and never without
a member of the ranch family, or a neighbor to escort them.

When the two horsemen reached the branching of the trails, they halted,
and the girls saw them ponder. One man motioned with a hand at the rough
trail running over the top of the shale in the middle of the area, but
the other seemed to argue that the edge-trail was the best one to take.

"Oh dear! I hope they won't take that slippery one!" cried Polly, in
tense nervousness.

"I wish we could yell and warn them!" exclaimed Eleanor, half-rising
from her seat.

"They'll never hear us at this distance, but we might run along the
top-trail and beckon them to climb up there."

"But, Polly, by the time we reach the shale they will be almost at the
Rainbow Cliffs," objected Eleanor.

"Yes, I know, but it seems awful to sit here and watch them ride over
that dangerous road."

"To relieve our minds, we can go down as far as possible and meet them
when they ride out at Rainbow Cliffs," suggested Eleanor.

So the two girls scrambled down from their high point of observation,
and started along the rock-ribbed road that led past the Cliffs. They
had not gone far along this trail, however, before Polly saw Jeb riding
down from the corrals.

"If I could only get Jeb's attention, he could ride fa