They had covered miles of the return journey, and had reached the canyon road leading directly to Gila. Here, for a short distance, the canyon stream spreads wide, flowing over a pebbly bottom. The water sparkled in the sunlight like a stream of diamonds. In the shallows, the bed of the stream seemed jeweled with rubies and emeralds, opals and amethysts, as the pebbles below the crystal water shimmered in the late sunshine. They were within a mile of Gila when they heard the sharp, shrill cry of wolves. Esther tightened the reins, and the horses fairly flew. "Have we a gun with us, Miss Bright? We ought to have one. I always feel safer when I have a gun. You never know what you may meet on these mountain roads." "Can you shoot?" asked Esther. "Oh, yes; father trained me to shoot. Oh, those terrible wolves!" she said, as the shrill, mournful cries came nearer. "On, Rocket! On, Star!" urged Esther, again. The animals made a sudden lunge, and sped onward like mad. Around jagged turns they flew, as if inviting death; near precipitous cliffs they swung, till the driver was filled with sickening terror. On they raced, the wolves in hot pursuit. "Oh, dear!" said Edith, looking back. "One large wolf is far in advance, and close upon us." Quick as a flash, she stooped, took a great haunch of venison Dr. Brown had sent to her father, and flung it behind them. Then she watched in intense excitement. "Oh!" she exclaimed, striking her hands together, "the wolf has discovered the venison, and has stopped!" With that, she took the whip, and gave the already excited animals a stinging blow. They leaped and plunged madly forward. Esther doubled the reins around her hands, and called in low, insistent tones: "Steady, Rocket! Steady, Star!" They had gained upon their pursuers, and the horses were running at furious speed. "The she-wolf," said Edith, looking back, "is again following; but the smaller wolves are snarling over the venison." "Ow-ee-ow," came the wolf-cry, shriller, sharper, nearer. Esther shuddered. She urged the horses on. Edith grasped her arm in terror. "The wolf is just behind us!" she said. Suddenly there was the report of a gun. Esther glanced back, and saw the wolf fall in the road. She glanced ahead, and, at first, she saw no one. Then, out from the shade of a group of pines, rode Kenneth Hastings. "Whoa! Whoa!" he called, as he leaped from his own horse, and caught Rocket by the bits. With a sudden lurch, the team came to a standstill. "Whoa, Rocket! Whoa, Star!" he called soothingly, as he held and quieted the team. "Oh, thank you, thank you, Mr. Hastings!" said Esther. "When did you reach Gila?" "We're _so_ glad to see you!" said both, as he stepped to the carriage and extended a hand to each. "But how did you happen to be here?" asked Esther.