at the speed that Baldy was traveling, but just before he
reached the man and boy, having previously shouted to warn them, Merritt
pulled up with a jerk that brought Baldy clear back on his haunches.
Like a flash of light he leaped from the horse and half lifted, half
pushed the man into the saddle, tossed the boy up behind him, and then,
grabbing hold of the slicker which was tied behind the cantle, he hit
old Baldy a slap with the quirt, and down the road they went, not twenty
yards ahead of the steers, Baldy carrying on his back the man and the
boy, and Merritt, hanging on like grim death, trying to run, taking
strides that looked as though he wore seven-leagued boots. The speed was
terrific and presently Wilbur noticed that Merritt was keeping both feet
together, putting his weight on the saddle, and vaulting along in
immense leaps. One moment he was there, but the next moment that Wilbur
looked ahead Baldy was still racing down the road with his double load,
but Merritt was nowhere to be seen. It was with a sickening feeling that
Wilbur realized that he must have lost his hold, and was in the same
peril from which he had saved the man and the boy.

For a few fearful minutes Wilbur watched the ground beneath his horse's
feet, but saw no object in the occasional glimpses he could secure of
the dusty road. Once again Wilbur found himself being forced to the
outer edge of the road, but the cliff was shallowing rapidly, and now
they were not more than twenty feet above the valley with the road
curving into it in the distance. A couple of hundred feet further on,
however, a hillock rose abruptly, coming within four feet of the level
of the road, and Wilbur decided to put the pony at it, seeing there was
a chance of safety, and that even if they both got bad falls, there was
no fear of being trampled.

Allowing the pony to come to the outside, he reined her in hard and led
her to the jump, swinging from the saddle as he did so in order to give
both Kit and himself a fair chance. The pony, released from the weight
of the rider before she struck ground, met it in a fair stride, and
without losing footing kept up the gait to the bottom of the hillock,
pulling up herself on the level grass below. But Wilbur, not being able
to estimate his jump, because he was in the act of vaulting from the
saddle, struck the ground all in a heap, crumpled up as though he were
broken in pieces and was hurled down the hill, reaching the botto