'We must try and keep together if possible,' said he; 'and now, off we go!'
The animals plunged forward amidst the drifting snow and shrieking storm, but in a few minutes they were swept apart, and Jack missed his companion. He pulled up, and called in vain for Joe; but the storm roared round, drowning everything in the darkness. At last Jack felt the wisest thing was to leave himself entirely to Buckskin, and not even try to guide him. The cold was beginning to stupefy the boy, and he had a strange feeling of numbness growing over him. The good old horse plodded steadily on, while Jack laid the reins on his back, saying with a sob, 'Go on, Buck. I shall die soon if you don't save me.' Suddenly Buckskin stopped, and, although Jack had just sense to be aware of it, he was quite unable to rouse himself from the deadly stupor he had fallen into. If he had not been secured by a rope on Buckskin, he would have slipped off long before on to the ground. But help was at hand. Buckskin had stopped by some bars. Like all prairie horses, he was very clever, and finding his rider made no effort to get off and put the bars down for him, he set to work to try and do it himself. He got his head under the top pole, and lifted it up from its place until one end fell down. He was working at the second when a dog's bark sounded close by, and very soon a light appeared in the doorway of a small log-house inside the bars, as a man came out and looked about.
It was too dark for him to see the horse outside, and Jack was quite unconscious by this time, so it would have fared badly with our friends in the storm, if the dog had not plunged forward over the snow and commenced barking frantically round them. This surprised the man, and procuring a lantern, he came towards the bars.
'What is it, Jim? Only coyotes, I believe. You silly old rogue!' he said as the dog rushed back to him; but as he got closer, he perceived the dark form of a horse.
'Hello! What have we here?' he exclaimed, as he let down the bars. 'A loose horse! Why, I declare, it's old Buck back again! But what has he got on his back? It looks like a child!'
He quickly led the horse to the door, and by the light of the lantern untied the rope, and carried the motionless figure into the house.
'Here, wife,' he called out, 'come and see to this child, while I take the horse to the stable. It's the strangest thing I ever knew. Buck gets stolen, and to-night I find him at the bars in this blizzard, with a kid on his back!'
A woman took the boy, and laid him on a couch some distance from the fire. She then removed the blanket, and was chafing the stiff limbs to bring back the circulation, when her husband returned, having made Buckskin as comfortable as possible in his own stable.
'Look! He's coming round a bit,' said the woman hopefully. 'Pour some warm coffee between his lips.'
The man obeyed, and the liquid seemed to revive the unconscious boy. He sighed and opened his eyes. He saw a gentle face bending over him, and knew his troubles were ended.