ALONG FOUR-FOOTED TRAILS 



in their wild race for freedom, the mare and 

 stallion became separated. Long Bob, en- 

 couraging his horse to renewed speed, swept by 

 the other boys and gradually gained on the 

 fleeing mare. The wild ponies were at a great 

 disadvantage; the scarcity of food and exposure 

 had both lessened their numbers and in a 

 measure weakened them. The pursuers, with 

 well-fed ponies, rapidly gained upon the fleeing 

 animals and in a brief time several of the band, 

 among them the vicious little white pony, were 

 under the power of the lasso. But not so with 

 the black mare; on and on she ran over hills 

 and across the sand-beds, with as much ease as 

 an ordinary domestic horse bounds over a 

 smooth pavement, leaving a cloud of white dust 

 between her and her pursuer. She entered a 

 ravine and for a time was lost to view. The 

 boys, fearing the mare would make good her es- 

 cape, turned from their race for the flying stallion 

 to aid their companion. They galloped across the 

 prairie to head the mare from entering the alkali 

 beds, where pursuit would be most difficult and 

 trying; when the fleeing mare emerged from the 

 ravine and saw the boys riding in her direction, 



[102] 



