e
him, Pierre would shake him off without even slackening his pace.

Mr. Winters, in the meantime, had run to his horse--which, during the
struggle, had stood perfectly still in the middle of the court--after
his pistols; but, before he could get an opportunity to use them, both
Pierre and the dog had disappeared among the trees. A moment afterward,
a horse was heard going at full speed through the grove, indicating that
the robber was leaving the ranch as fast as possible.

All this while, Frank has been almost overwhelmed with astonishment. The
ease with which the desperado had vanquished his uncle and the strange
behavior of the hitherto infallible Marmion, were things beyond his
comprehension. He stood gazing, in stupid wonder, toward the trees among
which Pierre had disappeared, while the sound of the horse's hoofs grew
fainter and fainter, and finally died away altogether. Then he seemed to
wake up, and to realize the fact that the Ranchero had made good his
escape, in spite of all their efforts to capture him.

"Let's follow him, uncle!" he exclaimed, in an excited voice. "I can
soon overtake him on Roderick."

"I could not ride a hundred yards to save my life!" replied Mr. Winters,
seating himself on the porch, and resting his head on his hands. "Bring
me some water, Frank."

These words alarmed the boy, who now, for the first time, saw that his
uncle's face was deadly pale, and that his hair was matted with blood,
which was trickling down over his collar.

"O, uncle!" cried Frank, in dismay.

"Don't be uneasy," said Mr. Winters, quietly. "Bring me some water."

Without stopping to make any inquiries, Frank ran into the kitchen and
aroused the housekeeper, giving her a very hasty and disconnected
account of what had happened, and then he hurried to the quarters to
awaken Felix.

"Go to Fort Yuma for the doctor, at once!" shouted Frank, pounding
loudly upon the door.

"What's up?" inquired Felix, from the inside.

"No matter what's up--go for the doctor! Take Roderick; he's the
swiftest horse on the ranch. Uncle's badly wounded."

"Wounded!" repeated Felix, jerking open the door, and appearing upon the
threshold, with a revolver in each hand. "Who did it? Where is he?"

"I can't stop to tell you who did it, or where he is. Hurry up, Felix,
and don't stand there looking at me! We've just had the hardest kind of
a fight with Pierre. Marmion was there, but he didn't do any good. He
threw the villain