the drumming of a wild stampede.

The men sprang to their feet and grasped their rifles.

"The horses!" cried Douglas; "some one has stampeded
them! We must get them back at any cost."

"Don't go out that way," remonstrated Dorothy, as they
made for the door. "You don't know who may be waiting
for you there. There is a back door leading out from the
next room, but you'd better look out carefully through
the window first."

The wisdom of the girl's advice was so obvious that they
at once proceeded to put it into execution.

CHAPTER XIII

ROOFED!

The back windows commanded a view of the horse corral,
and they could see that one side of it had been borne
down by the rush of horses. But what had frightened them
was a mystery. There was nothing whatever of a hostile
mature to be seen. They could detect no lurking foe
among the pines, and when they passed outside, and went
round the scattered huts, there was nothing to account
for the disastrous panic.

"_Parbleu!_" exclaimed Jacques, looking around perplexedly.
"I think it must have been their own shadows of which
they were afraid. Do you not think that is so, m'sieur?"

"It looks like it," said Douglas; but we must get those
horses or the rebels will get _us_ to-morrow; they can
hardly overtake us before then. If I remember rightly,
there's a snake-fence across the trail, about half-a-mile
or so up the valley, which may stop them. Now, if you,
Jacques, go to the right, and you, Lagrange, to the left,
while I take the trail--I'm not quite so young and nimble
as you two--I dare say we'll not be long before we have
them back. But I'd nearly forgotten about you, Dorothy.
It won't do to--"

"Nonsense, dad! I'll be perfectly safe here. The sooner
you get the horses back, the sooner we will be able to
consider ourselves safe."

This view of the case seemed to commend itself to Bastien,
for without further ado he strode away to the left among
the pines.

"I'm afraid there's nothing else for it," said Douglas.
"I think you'd better go inside again, Dorothy, and wait
till we return."

"And in the meantime I'll pack the sleighs," observed
the girl. "Leave me a gun, and I'll be all right"

The rancher leant his gun against the window sill, and
then departed hastily.

The deserted huts seemed very lonely indeed when they
had gone, but Dorothy was a healthy, prairie-bred girl,
and not given to torturing herself with vain imaginings.

She went indoors,