er seemed not to notice him.

Now he was within five feet of the revolver with his arm stretched out
at full length. It was only four feet now, and still the steer did not
make any move to attack him.

He was trying to think where he would shoot it. In the throat, ranging
so that the bullet would pierce its heart; or through the eye, and so
reach its brain.

Now his fingers closed around the weapon, and he clutched it
convulsively, leaping to his feet like an acrobat.

At the same moment the steer, bellowing like an insane thing, charged
upon him, and he fired into its blue eye.

The ball pierced the brain and killed the brute instantly, but did not
stop the headlong flight of it, and before Ted could step out of its
way, it struck him with the force of a locomotive. As he went to the
ground, the dead steer fell on top of him.

Ted's fight with the steer had been seen, and across the prairie two
flying figures simply split the air. When they reached the side of the
prostrate steer, they flung themselves to the earth and flew to the
rescue of Ted. One was Stella and the other was Bud.

"Is he dead?" asked Stella breathlessly.

"I reckon not," answered the cow-puncher, who, secretly, was very much
afraid he was; he didn't see how Ted could help being dead, having been
charged by a steer, and having gone down beneath its weight.

He was struggling like a demon to lift the heavy animal from Ted's body.

The bulk of the steer was lying across Ted's chest, whose face was black
from the congestion, so that Stella dared not look at him.

"Pump yer gun fer all it's worth," commanded Bud, in a rough voice.
"Keep shootin' till yer bring 'em on ther run. We've got ter get him
from under this steer soon, er he'll be all in."

Stella had snatched her Winchester from the boot of her saddle, and
fired it in rapid succession into the air until the magazine was empty.
Then she refilled it, and began shooting again.

Presently she heard answering shots from the direction of the camp, and
in a few minutes several horsemen came tearing over the top of a distant
hill, to disappear into a valley and come into sight again on a nearer
hill. Soon, with a shout that fairly split the air, six of the boys, led
by Ben and Kit, threw themselves from their saddles in front of her.

"What's the matter?" they yelled in unison.

"Throw that steer off Ted," she commanded.

Then they saw what the matter was, and altogether they hoisted th