"We ought to catch them," said Jack to Wang Shih as they thundered past.
The Chinaman smacked his lips with approval. Such a capture would be a turning of the tables indeed. But how was it to be done? One of his men, knowing in the ways of horses, proposed a plan. The principal thing was to prevent the fugitives from heading back towards the Cossacks. Let the brigands then extend on a wide front and follow; the runagates would keep together, and by and by, when their flight was past, come to a halt. Adopting the suggestion, Wang Shih led his men at a smart trot up the slope. For a long time the beat of the runaways' hoofs could be heard in the night air—the more clearly because they were to windward. Then the sound gradually died away. Wang Shih was anxious not to outrun them in the darkness; the country was uneven, with patches of timber here and there, and the animals if they stopped in the shelter of the hills might easily be passed. But with the number of men at his command it would not be difficult to find the most of them, at any rate, with the morning light. He pushed on, therefore, until he reached the spot where Hi Lo and the guide were eagerly awaiting Jack's arrival. There the band off-saddled, and, worn out with fatigue and excitement, the men flung themselves down on the leaf-strewn ground and sought their much-needed rest.
Jack did not fail to bestow warm praise upon the man and the boy who had so faithfully and cleverly carried out their part of the scheme. Hi Lo had been just on the point of striking his match when the Cossack messenger whom Jack had seen came riding behind him. The boy had barely time to slip into the tall kowliang, whence he had watched the unsuspecting horseman ride past.
"You did very well," said Jack. "Your father will be pleased when I tell him."
Hi Lo beamed with delight.
"My hab makee velly big fire; my look-see allo-piecee Lusski man belongey velly muchee 'flaid; my walkee long-side chow-chow pots; catchee plenty muchee bellyful, that-time lun wailo."
Jack laughed, and bade the boy make a pillow of his pony's saddle and go to sleep.
Next morning the stampeded horses were discovered peacefully cropping the grass in a narrow valley about a mile from the Chunchuses' bivouac. They allowed themselves to be caught easily; and with the booty of nearly two hundred Transbaikal ponies in excellent condition Wang Shih pursued his march.
CHAPTER XVII
The War Game