Behind him, yelling like one possessed, came Shorty. Jack urged his mount faster.
“Goodness! I hope we get to the bottom safely!” he gasped out.
The words had hardly left his lips when he felt his pony’s hoofs slip from under him.
The next instant, amid a horrified shout from the men below, Jack and the pony went rolling and plunging off the trail down toward the river.
The last sound Jack heard was Shorty’s loud:
“Yip! yip! Ye–o–o–ow!”
CHAPTER IV.
WITH THE RANGERS.