Then he deliberately
dropped on the prairie and lay on his side, as quiet as a lamb.
"Want to rest, eh?" said Dave. "Well, not out here. You brought me here
and you've got to take me back. Get up!"
He gave the animal a prod in the side. The bronco kicked out. Then Dave
gave a harder prod. This the pony would not stand, and up he came with
surprising agility. He tried to bolt, but Dave caught the saddle and
clung there. They headed again eastward, away from the ranch.
"All right, now run for it, and keep it up as long as you please!" cried
the boy, and urged the steed forward. Over the prairie the pony sped,
as if he had just started in the race. Thus another mile was covered,
and now Dave calculated he must be six or seven miles from Star Ranch.
The country about him looked strange, and he wondered where he was.
Nothing in the shape of a trail had come to view during the last run.
When the bronco stopped his racing, the youth turned him around again.
He now showed signs of fatigue, but Dave urged him on, digging his knees
into the animal's ribs as tightly as ever. Dave was almost "used up"
himself, but he resolved to make the bronco take him back to the corral
or die in the attempt.
"They shan't have the laugh on me," he argued.
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