They came in sight of the pony they were pursuing, at a bend in the gorge, and they almost reeled in their saddles when they saw it, so great was their astonishment. The pony was riderless! “Waugh!” Nomad roared, drawing rein and staring stupidly. “Whar’s ther man and ther gal?” No one could answer his question. CHAPTER XLIV. LAWLESS STRATEGY. Black John was no fool. In fact, he was both shrewd and clever, and possessed a foxlike instinct that stood him in good stead now. When he discovered that Buffalo Bill and three other men were near and coming on rapidly, he rode swiftly out of the valley, with the girl before him, telling her that he had sighted Indians. His frightened manner and frantic haste made her believe he told the truth. She had no desire to fall again into the hands of Indians. Her experience with Lightfoot was vivid in her memory, causing her to shudder at the recollection. Much as she detested her captor, to be Lightfoot’s prisoner again would be worse; and now that Black John was promising to convey her to her friends without delay, she was beginning to believe in his sincerity. She did not, therefore, make objection when he bore her away in front of him on the pony. He turned into the gorge after a sharp run. His manner in doing it would have shown her that the country there was familiar to him, if she had been experienced in judging of such things. When he had ridden at top speed some distance into the gorge, over rocky ground which left no hoofprints, he drew rein and leaped down. “We can baffle ’em, I think,” he said, lifting her from the horse, “if we move lively now. Redskins aire purty hard ter fool, but I think I can fool these red gentlemen handsome.” He looked about a moment, then pulled a leaf of thorny cactus and thrust it under the saddle girth. The pain of the cactus caused the horse to rear and plunge. “Go on with ye now!” he said. “Git!” He gave it a heavy slap, which started it along the trail. The pricking of the cactus caused it to continue on at a headlong gallop. “Quick, now!” he said, taking the girl by the hand. She yielded her hand willingly. She was trembling, frightened, and almost breathless, and her limbs were quaking under her, so that she could hardly stand. “I’ll help ye!” he said encouragingly, pulling her along, up the rocky slope. When she stumbled, as she did, now and then, his hand sustained her from falling; and when places were reached which she was too weak to surmount he lifted her in his arms. Ordinarily she would not have submitted in this way without taking pains to verify his statements; but she had suffered so much physically and mentally that she had lost the faculty of clear judgment. Fear ruled her now more than anything else.