Of this Harriet and Miss Elting were unaware. Their efforts were directed toward getting out of the tent to learn what had occurred. They could hear the canvas ripping; and the noise of the floundering hordes just outside was still going on. Together the two women fought their way out from under the canvas.
"Catch 'em! Catch 'em!" Jim was yelling at the top of his voice. "The horses are getting away!"
"Yes, and they have taken a good part of the tent with them," called Harriet.
The men had halted, not knowing whether they should proceed or not.
"Come on! come on!" cried Miss Elting. She could not see the horses, but she could hear them crashing through the bushes whinnying in terror. There was something sinister in this sudden outbreak, something that neither Miss Elting nor Harriet Burrell understood. Jane, having crawled from beneath the overturned tent, came running to them.
"What a mess!" she cried in dismay. "I feel as though I had been in a railroad wreck. What was it?"
"The horses," answered Harriet.
"Is that all? Didn't anything fall on us?"
"I think we had a narrow escape from being trampled by the horses."
The guide came running to them.