!"

No one, even a few feet away, could have heard her call and if there
had been any answer, the roar of the storm deadened it.

The rain came down in a heavy sheet, soaking her to the skin and
shutting out the hills across the canyon. She was alone in this
blinding downpour. It seemed as if the inferno she had witnessed in
the sky had fallen upon her and was eager to swallow her up. And yet
Bet was thrilled.

She wanted to huddle over her pony, hold on to the saddle horn, but she
dared not do it. She must find Joy.

What had happened to the other girls? Kit was probably with them, and
leading them to safety. Joy was near and in need of help.

Bet carefully took her feet from the stirrups and slid to the ground
with a death-grip on the saddle. There was only room for one foot on
the tiny shelf of rock, and that slight space was slippery with the
rain. Slowly Bet lowered herself, with the aid of the stirrup, and
clutching at the tough-fibred plants, she lay down flat on her stomach.
Sliding and wriggling, an inch at a time, down that slippery incline,
she managed to hold on to the narrow shelf.

"Joy! Joy! Where are you?" she cried.

At last Bet could hear the heavy breathing of Joy's horse, got hold of
a stirrup and clung there trembling.

Again and again she called, then listened.

Finally above the roar of the storm she thought she heard a faint cry
from the trail below. Bet crept along the trail, this time under
Dolly's feet. She had to take a chance even though one move on the
part of the horse might send her over the side of the cliff.

Then Bet saw Joy. She was clinging to a mass of bear grass, her face
white and her eyes wild with fear. It was impossible to reach her.
She seemed to be clinging there only with her hands, her feet swinging
without any support. But of that Bet could not be certain.

It would be sure destruction to attempt to climb down that wall.

Then quick as a flash Bet thought of the reata on Joy's saddle. Bet
had insisted that the girl carry the rope with her, and Joy had
protested as usual.

That rope was her only chance.

Bet slowly crept up the incline to Joy's horse and managed to get to
her feet and undo the long coil of rope. Then crouching to her knees
once more she made a loop, thankful that she had learned to do that
stunt as a child. The other end she tied to the saddle.

Bet heard a groan from the cliff and hastened toward it.

But haste was one