r animal must be suffering greatly. For it was
long past noon and breakfast at the ranch house was served early.

"I guess I'll have to begin to eat leaves and grass," murmured Rose
Bunker. "I suppose I can wash them down with water, and there is plenty
of water in the brook. Only the poor, doggy can't get to it."

While she was thinking these things, and feeling very miserable indeed,
she suddenly heard the ring of horses' hoofs on the stones in the brook.
Rose sprang up in great excitement, for she did not know what this new
trouble might be.

Then----

"Oh, Daddy Bunker! Russ!" she shrieked, and began to hobble toward the
cavalcade that had ridden down from the other side of the stream of
water.

"Rose!" cried daddy. "Are you hurt, child?"

"Well, I _was_ hurt. But my foot's pretty near well now. Only Pinky ran
away and left me after I tumbled out of the saddle--Oh! Wait! Look out
and don't scare off the poor lame doggy."

This last she cried when she looked back at the coyote trying to
scramble farther into the bushes. But the chain hitched to the trap had
caught over a stub, and the poor brute could not get far. Cowboy Jack
drew from his saddle holster the pistol he usually carried when he was
out on the range; but Rose screamed out again when she saw that.

"Don't hurt the poor doggy, Mr. Cowboy Jack! He can't get away."

"Jumping grasshoppers!" muttered the ranchman, "does she think that
coyote is a dog?"

"She evidently does," Black Bear replied. "He can't get away. I'll tell
Little Elk to stay back and fix him. No use scaring the child. Lucky the
brute was fast in that trap. He might have done her harm."

Rose did not hear this, but Russ did. And he was quite old enough to
understand his sister had been in danger while she remained here near
the coyote. Besides, it would have been cruel to have left the wounded
animal to die miserably alone. He could not be cured, so he would have
to be shot.

This incident of the coyote made a deeper impression upon the mind of
Russ than it did on his sister's. He quite understood that, had the
animal been more savage or had it been free of the trap, it might have
seriously injured Rose. There were perils out here on the open ranges
that they must never lose sight of--possibilities of getting into
trouble that at first Russ Bunker had not dreamed about. It made Russ
feel as though never again would he let any of the younger children go
anywhere alone while they