mesquite thicket without being swept from his pony and
trampled under the feet of the savage steers.

He gave the pony a free rein, clutched both cantle and pommel of the
saddle and braced himself for the shock that he was sure would come. The
cow pony tore through the growth at a fearful pace, while the boy's
clothes hung in shreds where they had been raked by the mesquite thorns.

All at once Tad felt himself going through the air with a different
motion. He realized that he was falling. The pony had stumbled and with
its rider was plunging headlong to the ground. The cattle were
thundering down upon them.

CHAPTER X

A MIRACULOUS ESCAPE

"That settles me!" said the lad bitterly.

The next instant he hit the ground with a force that partially stunned
him. His pony, whose nose had ploughed the ground, was up like a flash.
Realizing its danger, the little animal gave a snort and plunged into
the mesquite, leaving its rider lying on the ground with a fair prospect
of being crushed to death beneath, the hoofs of the stampeding steers.

Tad recovered himself almost instantly. His first instinct was to run,
in the hope of overtaking the fleeing pony.

"That'll be sure death," he told himself.

The cattle were almost upon him. If he were to do anything to save
himself he would have to act quickly.

It came to him suddenly that what the pony had fallen over might be made
to act as a shield for himself. The boy sprang forward, groping in the
dark amid the roaring of the storm and the thunder of the maddened herd.
His hands touched a log. He found that it had so rotted away on one side
as to make a partial shell. It was not enough to admit a human body, but
it served as a sort of screen for him. Tad burrowed into it as far as he
could get.

"I hope there are no snakes in here," he thought, snuggling close.

Yet between the two he preferred to take his chances with snakes, at
that moment, rather than with the crazy steers.

The leaders of the steers cleared the log, just grazing it with their
hind feet as they went over, sending a shower of dust and decayed wood
over Tad.

The cattle immediately following the leaders did not fare so well. A
number of them, leaping over the log at the same instant, fell headlong
as the pony had done before them. However, the steers were less
fortunate. Before they were able to scramble to their feet, others
following had tumbled over on top of them, and Tad Butler found h