g on the Buller's Creek ranges. He had the
greatest admiration for Darkie, and several times had asked to buy
her, but Uncle Carr had always curtly refused to part with her. The
last time there had been trouble about the boundary, Spanish Lu had
sworn that he would pay Uncle Carr out, and he was just the sort of
desperate fellow to keep his word. Of course the first thing to be
done was to ride round the ranch and see whether Darkie could be
found anywhere.

"'I'm sorry I can't look after the matter myself to-day,' said Uncle
Carr; 'but Jake and I have to get off to the mart at Louisville. She
may have strayed, but it's not likely. I don't believe you'll find
her.'

"As soon as Uncle and Jake, the herdsman, had started off in the
buggy, Lenox saddled Whitefoot, his own pony, to go in search of
Darkie. I begged and prayed and implored to go too, so finally they
let me have my way, and saddled Jap for me, a brown pony, quiet and
steady, though not so clever as Darkie. Coonie, a little half-caste
boy, went with us.

"'The air feels heavy this morning,' said Aunt Frances, as we were
starting. 'If a storm comes on, make for cover. Don't try to get
home across the prairie till it's over.'

"The sun was shining, and we did not think the weather looked at all
like a storm. I rather laughed at Auntie as she fastened a wrap on
to my saddle, with instructions to wear it if I felt cold. Lenox had
the lunch-basket, and also a small axe, which he always took with
him when going round the ranch.

"We set off and rode all the morning, but never a trace of Darkie
was to be found. We ate our lunch in a stony little glen, where a
stream flowed down from the ridge above. I was very keen on getting
wild flowers, and while our ponies rested, I wandered up the bank of
the stream, gathering myself a posy. I went on and on, much farther
than I intended. At the very head of the glen was a natural barrier
of rock, with a few steep steps leading on to a kind of plateau at
the top. This spot, I knew, marked the boundary between my uncle's
ranch and that of Spanish Lu. The glen was the property of Buller's
Creek; the farther side of the ridge belonged to the Hudson range,
and the plateau was neutral ground.

"Something, I don't know what, impelled me, as I stood there, to
give the long-drawn,