CHAPTER XLIII.
A FRIGHTFUL PERIL.
Not a sound came from the lips of our hero as his horse went plunging into the chasm, although, in the moment when he went over the brink, the boy fully expected to be dashed to death in the dark depths below.
He saw Big Gabe leap to clutch him, but realized that the giant was too late.
In that fateful moment Frank cleared his feet from the stirrups and made a desperate effort to save himself.
Too late!
All he could do was to clutch at the high pommel of the Mexican saddle, to which he clung tenaciously.
A wild, half human scream of terror came from the throat of the horse.
"Whoa up, thar!" roared the giant, as he made a clutch at the horse.
By rare good fortune the man clutched the flowing tail of the animal fairly and firmly. His heels settled into a rift of the rocks, and he surged backward.