uttered a cry.

"See, Pawnee, here's whar another of the hosses got away. Hang me if I
don't think it war my hoss, too!"

"Yes, and here is where the horse dropped into a walk," he answered. "I
don't believe he can be far off."

Without delay Rasco slid to the ground.

"I'll follow him up afoot," he declared. "I'm fresh and can run it
putty good. You go ahead with the regular trail."

The trail left by Yellow Elk ran down along the edge of the stream for a
distance of perhaps a hundred yards, then it came out on a series of
flat rocks and was lost to view.

Pawnee Brown came to a halt. Had Yellow Elk crossed the stream, or
doubled on the trail and gone back?

Dismounting, he got down upon his hands and knees and examined the last
hoof-prints with extreme care.

The examination lasted for fully ten minutes. No white man could follow
a trail better than this leader of the boomers, yet for the time being
he was baffled.

Yellow Elk had led the horses into the water, but the trail did not
extend across the stream.

"He's an artful dodger!" mused Pawnee Brown, when of a sudden he became
silent.

A faint scratching, as of tree bark, had come to his ears. The noise was
but a short distance away.

"Some animal," he thought. "No human being would make such a sound as
that."

Another ten seconds of painful silence followed. The scratching sound
had just been resumed when Bonnie Bird wheeled about as if on a pivot.

"Ha!"

The exclamation came from between Pawnee Brown's set teeth. There, from
between the branches of a tree just in front of him, glared a pair of
yellowish-green eyes.

The blazing optics belonged to a monstrous wildcat!

As quick as a flash Pawnee Brown raised his pistol and pulled the
trigger.

Crack! The wildcat was hit in the side. The shot was a glancing one and
did but little damage.

Whirr! down came the body straight for the boomer, landing half upon his
shoulder and half upon Bonnie Bird's mane.

The little mare was thoroughly frightened, and giving a snort and a
plunge she threw both rider and wildcat to the ground.

As Pawnee Brown went down he tried to push the monstrous cat from him,
but the beast had its claws fastened in the scout's clothing and could
not be shook off.

Crack! Again Pawnee Brown fired. The flash was almost directly in the
wildcat's face, and shot in the left forepaw the beast uttered a fearful
howl of pain and dropped back.

But only for an instant. T