of the guard.

Springing from my seat I walked towards the sentinel, and there, by
the light of the moon, I saw Frank, mounted upon Sancho, with Vic in
his arms. I reached up to take my dog, but the boy quickly exclaimed:

"Be careful, sir, be careful! She's badly hurt. Here's the letter she
brought. Henry is alive."

To attempt to relate all that now occurred would be impossible. In
some mysterious manner the news of Frank's arrival crept through the
camp, and half-dressed figures of officers and soldiers gathered about
the camp-fire, curious to listen to an account of the boy's adventure.
One little, blanketed figure ran out of the darkness, caught Vic's
face between her two palms, nestled her cheek against it, and with a
cheerful "good-night," disappeared as suddenly as she had come.

I took Vic in my lap as I sat on the ground, and by the light of a
blazing pine-knot proceeded to examine her condition. I found the
mouth and feet of the poor animal full of the spines of the _cholla_
cactus, a growth which is simply a mass of fine thorns. This cactus
grows in patches, and when the dead clusters fall to the ground the
spines stick to everything touching them. The dog had stepped into a
bed of these bunched needles, and filled her feet, and in trying to
remove them with her teeth had thrust them through cheeks, lips, and
tongue, literally closing her jaws. Her paws bristled with them like
pin-cushions.

As to Frank's adventures: After leaving the Arnolds, as already
described by Brenda, he retraced the route to Carizo Creek and to the
Rio Puerco without seeing any sign of his brother. Returning to the
west he dismounted at the crossing of the Carizo. He felt sure that if
Henry had been captured by the Navajos he must have been taken in the
dry bed of that creek.

A long and patient search resulted in the discovery of tracks made by
several ponies running along the eastern side of the Carizo to the
north and the hills. One of the set showed the print of iron shoes.
Frank mounted again and followed this trail up the valley for some
hours. He was thinking about returning, when he saw a white object
moving on a hill-side, far in advance. It seemed to tumble, rise, and
go in a circle, then tumble, rise, and circle again. Frank's curiosity
was aroused, and he rode on to examine the object. A few hundred yards
more revealed the fact that he had come upon the missing Vic, and that
something was seriously the matter with