Old Nick's"
skittishness was more amusing than dangerous in the open, here, in this
small place, with the other horses already difficult to manage, any real
panic on his part would be more than likely to precipitate a real
tragedy.

In the dark, unable to see a foot before their faces, only the power of
their wills to prevent a stampede of their panicky horses which would
mean death to them all and, worst of all, the possibility of smothering
or starving to death in this walled-in cave! This was the appalling
situation which confronted the four Outdoor Girls.

Mollie, her teeth grimly set, her knees dug into Old Nick's sides, was
doing her best to keep him from trying to climb on the back of one of
the other horses.

"Oh, Mollie, make him stop it," cried Amy frantically. "He'll kill poor
Lady. Make him stop!"

"What do you suppose I'm trying to do," gritted Mollie between clenched
teeth. "Do you think I like riding the side of a wall? Get down there,
Old Nick, you wicked beast. Just wait till I get you outside."

Although this threat was uttered sternly, Mollie had never been nearer
to crying in her life. Luckily, a cruel dig of her spurs in the horse's
side brought the big beast to his senses. He dropped to the ground and
stood there, quivering in every muscle and nickering plaintively.

"Good work, Mollie, old girl," cried Betty's voice encouragingly, and
Mollie, wiping a tell-tale drop from the corner of her nose, answered in
a voice that held never a quiver: "I couldn't fail you, Little Captain.
Not at a time like this," and then she felt very brave and heroic.

The horses were quiet, huddled together at the farther end of the cave
as though they found comfort in company, and thus one great danger was
passed. But the girls had still the other and greater one to face.

"We'd better dismount," said Betty's voice, surprisingly calm and
matter-of-fact. It was this ability of Betty Nelson's to keep her nerve
and her head in any difficulty, to see almost at a glance the best thing
to do and the best way to do it, that had led the girls to call her
their Little Captain. And now as they listened to her cool voice,
directing them as always in an emergency, some of her self-control
communicated itself to them and they followed her leadership without
question.

"The horses will stand quietly now, I think," she said, and swung
herself cautiously from Nigger's tall back and felt her way slowly past
the horses, out to