r safety, helping
the wounded Kurt as best he could.

They were far from safe, however, for though the two Arabs were
disposed of, there were others who had seen what was going on and were
heading that way.

Dick rode up to his friends and bending low in the saddle, he seized
Kurt under the arms.

"Help me give him a lift, Dan," he cried, and the next moment Kurt was
lifted bodily upon the horse ahead of Dick, while the latter directed
his friend:

"Grab the stirrup, Dan! Now run like blazes! There they come!"

Dan snatched at the stirrup and as Dick urged his horse to flight he
seemed to be flying through the air. Every time he raised his foot for
a forward step, he was pulled ahead by the rush of the horse and his
flight was a series of leaps that carried him forward like a kangaroo.

"Gee whizz!" he gasped. "This is grand if I can keep it up! I feel
like a giant grasshopper!"

Over his head whizzed the bullets of the galloping Arabs, who were
joining in the chase, and the cliffs ahead seemed very far away.

Dick encouraged his friend to keep up.

"Watch your step, Dan. Keep going for a minute longer and you're safe!"

The dust rose about them in a cloud. Dan's mouth was parched and dry.
His lips seemed to be cracking and his eyes full of grit, but he hung
to the stirrup for all he was worth, struggling desperately to keep
from falling.

It was like the end of a Marathon run, with every ounce of his strength
put forth by sheer will power to keep from giving up the race. But the
difference was that if he should lose the race, he would lose his life
as well.

Half dazed and almost blinded by the dust, Dan suddenly felt the horse
stop and he plunged forward in a heap. "This is my finish," he
thought. "I'm a goner, sure!"

He lay there panting, expecting in the next moment to feel a bullet
crash into his body, but instead, he was picked up by friendly hands
and revived with splashes of cool water over his face and head.

"Quick! Give him a drink!" he heard Dick command and the next instant
a gourd of water was put to his lips and Dan gulped it eagerly.

"Where are we?" he asked, wiping his eyes and looking around in a half
daze.

"At the Big Spring," said Dick. "We're safe here, but only for a few
minutes. The Taharans are standing off the Arabs with their bows and
arrows at the last line of defense."

While he spoke Dick was busily engaged in washing the dirt from Kurt's
bleeding shoul