, wheeling almost in the air, neighing his terror. Like a stone
she dropped from the saddle. She did not see the horse break into the
woods, but she heard him. Her gaze never left the bear even while she
was falling, and it seemed she alighted in an upright position with her
back against a bush. It upheld her. The bear wagged his huge head from
side to side. Then, as the hound barked close at hand, he turned to run
heavily uphill and out of the opening.

The instant of his disappearance was one of collapse for Helen. Frozen
with horror, she had been unable to move or feel or think. All at once
she was a quivering mass of cold, helpless flesh, wet with perspiration,
sick with a shuddering, retching, internal convulsion, her mind
liberated from paralyzing shock. The moment was as horrible as that
in which the bear had bawled his frightful rage. A stark, icy, black
emotion seemed in possession of her. She could not lift a hand, yet all
of her body appeared shaking. There was a fluttering, a strangling in
her throat. The crushing weight that surrounded her heart eased before
she recovered use of her limbs. Then, the naked and terrible thing was
gone, like a nightmare giving way to consciousness. What blessed relief!
Helen wildly gazed about her. The bear and hound were out of sight, and
so was her horse. She stood up very dizzy and weak. Thought of Bo then
seemed to revive her, to shock different life and feeling throughout all
her cold extremities. She listened.

She heard a thudding of hoofs down the slope, then Dale's clear, strong
call. She answered. It appeared long before he burst out of the woods,
riding hard and leading her horse. In that time she recovered fully,
and when he reached her, to put a sudden halt upon the fiery Ranger, she
caught the bridle he threw and swiftly mounted her horse. The feel of
the saddle seemed different. Dale's piercing gray glance thrilled her
strangely.

"You're white. Are you hurt?" he said.

"No. I was scared."

"But he threw you?"

"Yes, he certainly threw me."

"What happened?"

"We heard the hound and we rode along the timber. Then we saw the
bear--a monster--white--coated--"

"I know. It's a grizzly. He killed the colt--your pet. Hurry now. What
about Bo?"

"Pedro was fighting the bear. Bo said he'd be killed. She rode right up
here. My horse followed. I couldn't have stopped him. But we lost Bo.
Right there the bear came out. He roared. My horse threw me and ran off