shman made no reply; he was too much occupied with the act he had
in mind. Furthermore, he noted that the buck whom he held in such fear
was making ready to fire.

But Tim was ahead of him, and, by one of those strange accidents which
sometimes happen, he hit him so fair and hard that, with the invariable
cry of his race when mortally hurt, he reeled sideways and fell to the
ground, his horse, with a snort of alarm, circling off over the prairie
far from his companions.

[Illustration: TIM'S FORTUNATE SHOT.]

Warren glanced around at the moment the gun was discharged and could
hardly believe his own eyes. He knew the success was accidental, and
hoped it would not encourage Tim to repeat the attempt.

It was expected that the shot would serve as a check to the rest, and
ordinarily it would have done so, but it produced not the slightest
effect in that direction. Back of the fallen warrior, whose body rolled
over and over in the snow, as it struck with a rebound, were more than
half a dozen, with the others streaming after them. They gave no heed to
their fallen leader, neither uttering any outcry nor firing in return,
but pressing their ponies to the highest possible point. They were
resolved upon capturing those fugitives and subjecting them to a
punishment beside which shooting would be a mercy.

It would not do to forget the country in front. While their chief
interest lay to the rear, they were liable to run into some peril that
would undo all the good gained by outrunning their pursuers. Warren saw
that while they had swerved to the left, yet the course of the ridge
would carry them to its base, unless they diverged still more from the
direct path.

And yet this divergence must be made as gradual as circumstances would
permit, since otherwise great advantage would be given their enemies by
the chance to "cut across lots," or in other words to follow a straight
line, while offsetting the curved course of the fugitives.

Directing the attention of Tim to the situation, he begged him to give
no further thought to firing upon their foes.

"I'll let the spalpeens alone if they'll do the same wid me," was his
reply, spoken in a low voice, for the two were separated by only a few
feet.

"You can't have as good luck a second time."

"But," persisted Tim, "if I hadn't dropped that felly, he would have
tumbled you or mesilf out of the saddle, as he was about to do whin I
jumped on him wid both feet."

But Warren