"Head 'em off!"
"Shoot at 'em!"
"Head 'em away from that mound!"
Thus cried the cowboys as they raced to the rescue. They were at rather a disadvantage, for their horses were winded and exhausted from the previous rushes to stop the pretended stampede, and now, when all their energies were needed to end a real one, the animals were not equal to the demand.
"Do you think they can stop 'em?" asked Russ of a passing cowboy. The young operator was still at his camera, but he was not going to take any pictures if Ruth, Alice and the others were really in danger.
"Of course we'll stop 'em!" cried the cowboy, with supreme confidence in his ability and that of his companions.
"Then I might as well get a film of this," decided Russ. "It would be a pity to let a real stampede get away from me. I can cut out some of the other pictures."
He ran to where he had left a spare camera and soon was grinding away at the handle, making views of a real and dangerous stampede.
"Oh, what shall we do?" gasped Alice, as she clung to her sister on the mound of safety.
"We can't do anything," answered Alice, solemnly—"except to wait. They may divide and pass to either side of us. I've read of such things happening."