to calculate when
he might make a leap and seize the bridle.

The boy and the pony were intently watching the eyes of each other.
Dick, in that extreme moment, was gifted with preternatural
acuteness of mind and vision, and he saw that the pony still wavered.
He took another step forward, and the eyes of the pony inclined
distinctly from belief to suspicion; another short and cautious step,
and they were all suspicion. But it was too late for the pony. The
agile youth sprang, and dropping the grass, seized him with his left
hand by the bridle. A sweep or two of the hunting knife and the
hobbles were cut through.

The pony reared and gave forth an alarmed neigh, but Dick,
quickly replacing the knife in his belt, now held the bridle with
both hands, and those two hands were very strong. He pulled the
pony back to its four feet and sprang, with one bound, upon his
back. Then kicking him vigorously in the side, he dashed away,
with rifle shots spattering behind him.

Chapter XI
The Terrible Pursuit

Dick knew enough to bend low down on the neck of the flying
mustang, and he was untouched, although he heard the bullets
whistling about him. The neigh of the pony had betrayed him, but
he was aided by his quickness and the friendly darkness, and he
felt a surge of exultation that he could not control, boy that he
was. The Sioux, jumping upon their ponies, sent forth a savage
war whoop that the desolate prairie returned in moaning echoes,
and Dick could not refrain from a reply. He uttered one shout,
swung his rifle defiantly over his head, then bending down again,
urged his pony to increased speed.

Dick heard the hoofs of his pursuers thundering behind him, and
more rifle shots came, but they ceased quickly. He knew that the
Sioux would not fire again soon, because of the distance and the
uncertain darkness. It was his object to increase that distance,
trusting that the darkness would continue free from moonlight.
He took one swift look backward and saw the Sioux, a dozen or
more, following steadily after. He knew that they would hang on
as long as any chance of capturing him remained, and he resolved
to make use of the next swell that he crossed. He would swerve
when he passed the crest, and while it was yet between him and
his pursuers, perhaps he could find some friendly covert that
would hide him. Meanwhile he clung tightly to his rifle,
something that one always needed in this wild and dangerou