ged, each time increasing his speed; but in this, and in
the efforts which followed, the Indians grasped his ideas, and they
galloped out to cut him off, till after trial following trial the
fugitive found that his efforts to escape in that way could only result
in tiring out his mustang, and so cleverly had the enemy manoeuvred that
they had cast, as it were, a line round him, a semicircle whose chord
was the edge of the depression, towards which when it pleased them and
they felt certain, they could press him back, gradually contracting
their line till he was completely in their power.

Chris drew rein to sit watching the enemy for a few minutes, and
breathing his mount while he decided as to what he must do.

The decision was soon arrived at. There was the open country with
Indians dotted at intervals ready to close in, but all the same that was
the only way of escape, for fully twenty sat like statues upon their
horses across the open part which gradually contracted to form the jaws
of the ravine down which he would have liked to turn.

"I must do it," thought the boy, and his mind was made up. The open
country must be reached, and he prepared for action by taking his
revolver out of the holster and holding it ready for a shot; then
gathering up his reins and pointing his pony's head for the very centre
of the line which hemmed him in, he went off at a canter straight for
the open, picking out one man as his guide.

The result was exactly what he expected, for as he increased his pace
the Indians to his right and left came galloping, evidently meaning to
reach him just as he gained their line.

Chris urged his pony on at full gallop, and there was a race, the enemy
sweeping over the short level grass, concentrating themselves as it were
upon their quarry, and beginning to yell and shout as they tore along.
But Chris's movement was only a feint, and the next minute he had
wheeled round, changing his direction to one parallel with the edge of
the cliff, tearing along so that two out of three of the Indians dashed
past him, while as he neared the other, who was right in his way, he
raised his revolver, waited till he was as close as he was likely to
get, and then at intervals fired three shots, the little bullets
whizzing through the clear morning air, and the last, to the boy's
surprise and delight, finding its billet with a faint _ping_.

He had only expected to startle and perhaps make his enemy turn tail,
b