“Well, I’m here to see that they don’t harm you. Will you please take my horse? I’ve an idea those dogs belong to the outlaws that I know are in this section. But we will see that they do not harm you.” His assurance tended to dissipate her fears. She stared at him with large eyes, that were still round and terrified. “I was held by Panther Pete, whom I used to think was Buffalo Bill,” she stated; “and I escaped from the hut he placed me in, over somewhere in that direction. I thought I----” He saw her reel with weakness. “My dear young lady,” he said, putting forth his hand to sustain her, “I must insist that you take my horse, if you feel at all able to ride.” She glanced at Wild Bill, who was approaching with the prisoners, Panther Pete and Garland. The clamor of the dogs broke louder on the air. “Yes--yes,” she said, when she heard again that terrifying sound. “I can ride.” Buffalo Bill helped her mount to the saddle. He was afoot now, and so was Wild Bill, for the latter had mounted his two prisoners on the one horse, and had tied them, and held them cowed with his revolver. Buffalo Bill glanced about. He knew that the dogs were not alone, and that soon some of Panther Pete’s desperate followers would be in sight, after which there would probably be a lively battle, with the odds probably against him and his pard. He saw a hollow in the rocks just across the path, not far away. “We can put the horses behind the hill there,” he said to Wild Bill, “and then we can get into that pocketlike place, and by heaping up a sort of breastworks make a stand so strong that we’ll trouble the rascals, if no more.” “Correct,” Wild Bill assented; “and I guess we’d better move lively.” They moved lively, and were soon in the hollow spoken of, with the horses out of sight behind the rise of the hill. The prisoners were tied anew, and so securely that there was little chance they could break away; and the girl, who had been taken from the horse, was asked by the scouts to watch them. Then Buffalo Bill and his companion set to work to roll some stones together in front of their hiding place, and behind those stones they meant to take their stand. Soon the dogs were in sight, baying, and came on, following the tracks of the girl, with noses held close to the ground. They were big brutes, three of them, of ferocious aspect. Behind them appeared several horsemen, riding at a rapid pace, but not too fast for the dogs. It was clear that the girl would soon have been overtaken, if she had not found friends to aid her. She looked at the dogs with a shudder, realizing what that pursuit had meant for her. “Don’t be frightened, my dear young lady!” said Buffalo Bill. “But those men will attack you!” “Oh, yes, we expect that; but it’s a game we can play, also. They’ll find it warm when they try to get at us here.”