'Not far off, Seth.' By this time we had got our wind again, and quickened up into a fast swing; but our work had told on us, and we couldn't have gone much over seven miles an hour. Several times, as we went on, we could hear a trampling in the dark, and knew that we had scared some horses; but though we had a lasso we had brought with us, we might as well have tried to catch a bird with it. In an hour we heard the dog again, but it was a long way behind. There was nothing for it now but hard running, and we were still seven miles from the road, and even that didn't mean safety. I began to think we were going to lose the race, after all. In another quarter of an hour we stopped suddenly. 'Thunder!' said Rube; 'what's that?' Some animal, that had been lying down, got up just in front of us. 'It's a horse! Your lasso, Rube!' Rube, however, had made a tremendous rush forward, and, before the animal could stretch himself into a gallop, had got close, and grasped him by the mane. 'It's no go,' Rube said, as the horse made a step forward; 'he's an old un, dead lame.' 'Don't leave go, Rube,' I said. 'He'll do for our turn.' He was a miserable old beast, but I felt that he would do as well as the best horse in the world for us. Rube saw my meaning and in a minute we were both astride on his back. He tottered, and I thought he'd have gone down on his head. Kicking weren't of no good; so I out with my knife and gave him a prod, and off we went. It weren't far, some two hundred yards or so, but it was the way I wanted him, right across the line we were going. Then down he tumbled. 'All right,' said I. 'You've done your work, old man; but you mustn't lay here, or they may light upon you and guess what's been up.' So we lugged him on to his feet, gave him another prod, which sent him limping off; and on we went on our course, sure that we were at last safe, for we had thrown the bloodhound altogether off our trail. For a mile or so we kept right away from our course, for fear that they should keep straight on, and, missing the scent, lead the dog across the trail, and so pick it up again; then we turned and made straight for the road. 'I don't think, Rube,' I said after awhile, 'that we shall strike the road far off where we left it at Pepita's.' 'No, I expect not, Seth. We had better bear a little more to the south, for they will most likely make for Pepita's, and day will soon be breaking now.' 'We'd better not strike the road at all, Rube; likely enough, they will follow it down for a few miles in hopes of picking us up.' 'I hope they will,' Rube said; 'and I expect so. Won't it be a lark, just?' 'What do you mean, Rube?'