Teddy nodded silently. He, too, realized that the danger was not yet over. But the horses were rapidly recovering their strength, and the boys knew they would be able to respond with another dash when the time came. These riders understood their mounts thoroughly--understood, and loved them. When a man and a horse are together through long hours of loneliness on the wide plains of the West, when they ride into and out of perils of all sorts, there springs up between them a strange bond, which seems to have something in it other than mere friendship. So it was with Teddy and Flash, and Roy and Star. Ever since that day they had lost them, when the horses had been stolen from the hitching rail at Eagles, and the boys had risked their lives more than once to recover them, the broncos had come to mean more than mere saddle horses. The story of how they finally caught the horse thieves who had stolen the ponies, and in doing so rid the range of a desperate gang of rustlers, is told in the first book of this series, called “The X Bar X Boys on the Ranch.” These exciting adventures were followed by many others, when Teddy and Roy searched the mysterious Thunder Canyon for Belle Ada, their sister, and her two friends, who had been kidnapped. Then came a hazardous journey down Whirlpool River, to recover some cattle that had been rustled by Denver Smith and his gang. In the book, just before the present volume, “The X Bar X Boys on Big Bison Trail,” the tale is related of a moving picture company on location and of the part Teddy and Roy played in its affairs. How they aided their cowboy friend, Nick Looker, to recover a legacy left by his uncle, is also told. Throughout all these experiences the two Manley boys had, as their constant companions, Flash and Star. Many times the horses had been the means of saving the lives of their masters. Thus Teddy and Roy came to know them as few masters know their horses--to know their weaknesses, their strength. And both boys realized that, at this moment, should they be compelled to drive them forward before the wolves, they would again answer as they had before. Teddy saw that Roy, who was leading, had swerved to the right and was listening intently, his hand cupping his ear. “They’re still making plenty of noise back there,” Teddy called, but Roy shook his head. “It’s a different sort of noise. We’ve got to swing pretty wide. They’re on the run again. Listen! Notice that new note?” Truly there did seem to be a change in the yapping sounds the wolves were making. The boys were on the other side of the hill now, out of sight of the animals, but every moment they expected to see the pack appear over the crest. Teddy rapidly replaced with cartridges the shells that had been exploded, and seized his weapon more firmly. “It would be worse than useless to face that pack,” he said with a slight shudder. “Where in thunder could they have come from? There hasn’t been a wolf in these parts for years.”