"Scared at what?" questioned Stacy, looking up apprehensively.
"Yes; that's what I'd like to know?" agreed Ned. "I don't see anything that looks like a scare."
The guide was looking down at the animal pityingly, Tad thought.
"What are they so frightened at, Mr. Parry?" asked the lad.
"My boy, they are afraid of the desert," replied the guide solemnly.
CHAPTER II
THE FIRST NIGHT IN CAMP
"The desert?" the Pony Riders gasped in chorus.
"Yes. It is not an uncommon thing. They seem to realize instinctively that there is danger off there. Even in animals that never have been near the desert you will find the same inborn dread of the alkali flats. And I don't know that I blame them any."