ll we do?" asked Shirley, who never got excited or lost
her head.

Kit looked at the canyon walls on both sides. They were steep, they
seemed straight up.

"Oh, I shouldn't have started back, I should have waited," in Kit's
voice was a sob.

Heavy clouds had shut out all the blue of the sky. Never before had
the girls seen such black and menacing clouds. They rolled and seethed
like foaming billows. It looked as if the demons of some underworld
were engaged in a tremendous battle. Black, castle-like shapes piled
up, to be tumbled into the abyss, the next second. It was an inferno
through which a flash of lightning darted from time to time, followed
by thunderclaps.

The girls were terrified.

Joy was sobbing outright and at every blast of thunder a high-pitched,
uncontrollable shriek broke from her lips. The horses stood still,
trembling with fright.

"We're in terrible danger here. We must get out!" cried Kit,
frantically. "Come on back. Let your horse take you wherever he wants
to, and hold on for dear life."

Kit wheeled her horse back the way they had come and the girls
followed. And just at that moment the downpour came and looking back
toward the pass, the girls saw a strange sight. A body of water came
roaring through the narrow opening as if a gigantic fire-hydrant had
burst. A cloudburst in the mountain beyond had sent the water roaring
and tumbling down the bed of the stream.

Just what happened the girls could hardly tell afterwards. They held
on as Kit had directed and the horses raced madly away from the
oncoming torrent.

Bet's heart almost stopped beating as her pony took the trail up the
wall of the canyon, so steep that she would not have dared to attempt
it on foot. Half way up the wall, the horse stopped.

"I've never seen anything braver than that! This is thrilling!"
breathed Bet as she held on to the horn of the saddle with a grip that
strained her hands. Although she was as frightened as any of the
girls, she still had an eye to the adventure.

The stream bed was a river now, swirling, foaming and roaring. It made
one dizzy to look down into it.

Bet finally got up the courage to turn her head to see if the other
girls were safe, and behind her on the trail, she made out Joy's horse.

The animal had followed Bet's lead and it stood on the trail dejected
and drooping, a picture of woe.

And the saddle was empty.

"Joy! Joy!" screamed Bet. "Where are you? Joy