'll get tired some time.
But I hope you don't go all the way to Bexar."

Fully two miles were covered, when the white mustang came out of the
woods at the edge of a ravine. He ran like the wind until the very edge
was reached, then stopped short all in an instant.

Dan was holding on with might and main, but no boy's grip could
withstand such a shock, and up flew his body, and over the pony's head
he sailed. Then he felt himself going downward, toward the bottom of
the ravine. Some brushwood scratched his hands and face, there followed
a great thump,--and then he knew no more.

CHAPTER XIX.

THE CAVE IN THE RAVINE.

When Dan came to his senses all was dark around him. The sun had set
over the timber in the west, and scarcely a sound broke the stillness
of the night.

For several minutes the youth could not imagine where he was or what
had happened. Then slowly the realisation of the events just passed
dawned upon his muddled brain.

He tried to pull himself together and sit up, but the effort was so
painful he was glad enough to give it up and rest just as he lay. The
brushwood had saved him from death, but it had not saved him from a
nasty fall on the flat rocks which rested at the bottom of the ravine
at this particular point.

"It must be at least two or three hours since I went over," he thought,
dismally. "I wonder what became of the mustang, and where Ralph and the
ponies are?"

He tried to see the face of the silver watch he carried,--an heirloom
from his mother,--but it was too dark, and he had to give it up. Then
he attempted to call out, but his voice was so feeble no one standing
fifty yards off would have heard it. And Ralph was miles and miles
away, hopelessly lost in his hunt after his missing brother.

Not a bone had been broken nor a muscle strained to any extent, yet it
was almost daybreak before Dan felt like getting on his feet, and in
the meantime he had fallen into a doze and dreamed all manner of
horrible dreams. When he awoke, his mouth was parched for water, and
his first move was in the direction of the wet portion of the ravine,
beyond the rocks.

As it was the fall of the year, the night had been cold, and after
procuring a drink he was glad enough to sit down again beside a fire
made of leaves and such small brush as was handy. He was now hungry,
but nothing was at hand to satisfy the cravings of the inner man. His
gun had been left behind, but in his belt still rested