"They are coming," Frank said; "but they must be a good way off, for Turk did not hear them at first. Which way shall we go, Dick?" "We had better turn to the left," Dick said, "for our natural line leads to the right. However, it does not make much difference, for they will be able to track us; still, it may puzzle them. It will be dark in a couple of hours, and if we can keep ahead till then we are safe." They started at a gallop, and for an hour rode at full speed in the direction which would take them down to the plain at or near the spot where they had halted the night before. [Illustration: DICK AND FRANK ELUDE THE INDIANS.] "Look out, Frank! rein up!" Dick suddenly shouted. Frank pulled his horse back on its haunches, and but just in time, for at the brow of the swell up which they had been galloping, the ground fell suddenly away in a precipice two hundred feet deep, and the horse was barely a length from it when he brought it to a standstill. "We are in a mess," Dick said. "The Injins behind us will know of this, and instead of following will scatter to the right and left, as they will know that we must turn one way or the other." "In that case," Frank said, "our best plan will be to go straight back." "You are right," Dick exclaimed, "that is the best thing we can do. We won't follow the exact track, as a few of them may have kept our line, but will bear a little distance off it, and hope they may pass us unseen; the sun is setting already, half an hour and it will be dark." Taking every precaution to conceal their trail, they rode back, keeping a hundred yards or so to the right of the line by which they had come. A quarter of an hour passed, and then Turk gave his growl of warning. "Could not have been better," Dick exclaimed, "this brushwood is just the place for us." They threw themselves from their horses, and made the animals lie down at full length in the low bushes, and laid themselves down beside them. "Hush! Turk," Frank said to the dog, as he laid his hand upon it's head. "You must lie quiet, sir, and not make the least noise." The dog, who was quivering with excitement, lay down quietly, as if it comprehended the need for silence. "One, two, three, four, five, six," Dick counted, peering through the bushes. "Six of them; we could fight that lot easy, but the sound of our rifles would bring the whole gang down upon us." The Indians were not riding at full speed, for their horses were tired, having already made a long march before they saw the hunters following the deer to the cañon, and they did not expect to overtake those of whom they were in pursuit, believing that when they reached the precipice they would make along it to the right or left, and so fall into the hands of one or other of the parties who had gone to intercept them. No sooner were they fairly out of sight than the hunters rose, and, remounting their horses, continued their way.