nd them far beyond his reach.

Lying still, bruised but not seriously hurt by his fall, Ree Kingdom was
thinking fast. He felt for his pistol inspired by the thought that he
would capture the criminal yet, and wishing he had used it earlier. But
the weapon was gone--lost in the wild ride, no doubt. The next instant
Ellis swiftly turned and seized him by the throat; and he knew that his
life was in the giant's hands.

CHAPTER II.

A Bound Boy's Story.

With the horses gone beyond recapture, Big Pete must needs depend on his
own legs if he meant to escape. The constable's party could not be far
behind, and with the boy, whose throat he clutched, to point the way in
which he had gone, when the officer came up, his chance of getting away
was much less than it would be should that boy be powerless to give any
information.

Ree Kingdom thought of this and lay perfectly still, feigning
insensibility but keenly wondering what disposition would be made of him,
and resolved to fight to the last breath if his pretense of
unconsciousness were discovered. Then the giant's grip about his throat
grew tighter, and he felt that a terrible struggle and perhaps death were
just at hand. Between his almost closed eyelids he saw the man's big
frame bending silently over him and thus moments which seemed like hours
passed.

The slow-thinking fugitive could not at once decide what he should do. He
was hoping Ree would spring to his feet and run. Then, pretending to try
to catch him, he would escape among the darker shadows before the boy
could see in which direction he had gone. He was not deceived by the
pretense of unconsciousness, as Ree thought, and really hoped to be saved
the necessity of killing the lad or of knocking him senseless, to a
certainty, lest such a blow might produce death. He shuddered as he
remembered that his hands were probably already stained with blood.

If Ellis had but known it, flight was far from Kingdom's thoughts. He was
steadfast in his every purpose, to a fault, and having set out to capture
Big Pete, the idea of running away just as he was face to face with the
giant fellow, did not so much as occur to him, though he well knew his
peril.

"Scoot!" With sudden fury Ellis dragged Ree to his feet and violently
pushed him as he spoke, expecting to see the boy dash away.

Ree could not prevent a grim smile from crossing his lips as he turned
quickly toward the giant again, realizing that the fell