on himself, Glen could not help noticing the uneasy movements
of his steed, and his impatient snuffings of the air, that began as soon
as they came to a halt. The scouts noticed them, too, and watched the
mule narrowly.

Suddenly the animal threw up his great head, and in another instant
would have announced his presence to all the country thereabout by a
sonorous, far-reaching bray. Before he could open his mouth, however,
one of the scouts sprang from his pony and seized him by the nose. In
the struggle that followed, the end of the lariat held by Wolf-Tongue
was jerked from his hand. At the same moment the mule succeeded in
shaking off the scout with such violence that he staggered for nearly a
rod before recovering his balance. Then, so quickly that Glen was very
nearly flung from his back, the animal sprang to the crest of the little
ridge, and dashed, with astonishing speed, towards the corral that had
been his home for so long, and which he had scented so plainly the
moment he reached its vicinity.

Of course the entire body of Indians was in instant pursuit--not of the
mule, but of the prisoner that he was bearing from them. Like a
thunderclap out of a clear sky, they rushed down that slope, every pony
doing his best, and their riders yelling like demons. From the first,
Wolf-Tongue took the lead. It was his prisoner who was escaping, his
first one. He must have him again. He would almost rather die than lose
him. So he lashed his pony furiously with the quirt, or Indian
riding-whip of raw-hide fastened to his wrist, and leaned far over on
his neck, and yelled, and beat the animal's sides with his moccasined
feet, until he had gained a lead of all the others and was almost within
reach of the mule. Another moment and he would have that trailing lariat
in his hand.

Glen, too, was kicking the sides of his ungainly steed, and yelling at
him in a perfect frenzy of excitement. He saw the stage ranch, the
winding wagon trail, and the shining river beyond the instant he was
borne over the crest of the ridge, and knew what they meant for him. To
reach that little clump of buildings first, meant life, liberty, and
restoration to his friends. He must do it, and he fully believed he
could. He leaned as far as possible over the mule's neck, and shouted
encouraging words into his ears. What wonderful speed the long-legged
animal was showing! Who would have thought it was in him?

"Well done, mule!" yelled Glen. "A few m