ip off? That gully must be a thousand feet deep!"

"More than that," said Archie, who, although very far from being pleased
at his own situation, could not resist the inclination to torment
Arthur. "It reaches clear through to India, where you used to hunt polar
bears."

"That's so," said Johnny; "for just now, as I looked over into the
gorge, I saw a lot of half naked Hindoos tumbling about among the
icebergs."

"And I heard them yelling," chimed in Frank; "and saw one of those big
white bears after them."

"Go on!" repeated the Ranchero, impatiently.

"O, now, see here!" exclaimed Arthur, in a trembling voice, trying to
turn his horse's head away from the pass, "I believe, I'll"--

He was about to say, that he believed he would not go any further, but
that he would return home and leave Pierre and his band to take care of
his three enemies; but his keeper did not give him time to finish the
sentence. Seeing that Arthur had no intention of following the rest of
the party, the robber took his lasso from the pommel of his saddle, and
with it struck his prisoner's horse a blow that caused the fiery animal
to give one tremendous spring, which brought him to the very brink of
the precipice. In his efforts to stop himself, a portion of the earth
was detached by his hoofs and fell with a loud noise into the abyss,
bounding down its rocky sides, and crashing through bushes and branches
of trees in its rapid descent to the bottom. The horse, frightened by
the sound, and smarting under the blow of the lasso, reared so straight
upon his hind legs that he seemed in imminent danger of toppling over
into the chasm; and then, for the first time in his life, Arthur found
himself in real peril. He screamed loudly, clung to the horn of his
saddle with a death grip, and closed his eyes, expecting every instant
to find himself whirling through the air toward the bottom of the gorge.
But help was near: the strong hand of his keeper grasped the bridle, and
brought the horse back upon firm ground.

"Now, then, go on!" commanded the Ranchero, without giving his prisoner
time to recover from his fright.

Arthur was powerless to obey, for so great was his terror that he could
not move a muscle; but his horse, being left to himself, stepped boldly
upon the ledge, and followed after the rest of the party, who had, by
this time, disappeared around the base of the mountain.

CHAPTER XIV.

A DINNER IN THE MOUNTAINS.

Pass Chris