"Over there," rejoined the girl, pointing to the eastward. "Bymby find trail."
"All right, Susyjan; you're a brick," whispered Rob, "and I won't forget the beads."
"Real ones, like white lady," insisted Susyjan.
"Sure, and the whitest of them isn't any whiter than you," Rob assured her, as he dug his heels into the pony's bony sides and the little animal plunged forward. As he did so, Susyjan wheeled and vanished. It was important for her to be in bed in her tepee in case the alarm was given.
"Slow and steady's the word, I guess, along here," mused Rob, as the pony picked his way among rough rock and stubbly brush. "If this little animal doesn't stumble and wake the whole camp, I'm in luck. Anyhow, Susyjan won't get in trouble over it now. That's one thing, and——"
Crash!
The little pony had done just what Rob dreaded. Nimble as it was, a loose rock had proved its undoing, and it had come down on its knees with a crash. Instantly it scrambled up again, but as it did so a series of demoniacal yells rang out behind the boy.
The alarm had been given.
Suddenly there was added to the general confusion the sound of confused shooting.
Bang! Bang!