"Can't we ride after 'em?" queried Phil.
"Sure we can ride after 'em," responded Todd. "An' we better do it, too,
fer there ain't no tellin' what that pony will do to Dave," he added,
anxiously, and with a black look at Yates, which made the other cowboy
cast his eyes to the ground.
On and on sped the bronco, with Dave sitting firmly in the saddle. So
long as the pony kept going, the lad felt he had nothing to fear. But he
was on the alert, for he did not know but that the animal would play
another trick at any instant.
"Go on, old boy!" he muttered. "We've got miles and miles of prairie
ahead of us. Run till you are tired! But remember, you've got to carry
me back," he added, grimly.
Soon the ranch house and the corral were mere specks in the distance,
and then even these faded from view. The pony kept to the open country,
and not once did he slacken his speed.
"I guess he'll drop into a walk when his wind is gone," thought Dave.
But the pony's breathing apparatus showed no sign of giving out. Dave
allowed his eyes to turn back, and calculated he had gone two or three
miles. "Maybe we had better turn back now," he murmured, and tried to
guide the steed in a circle. But this was a failure. The pony kept
straight ahead, running due eastward, as the youth could see by the sun.
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