He kicked his heels on his horse's sides, and the good old plow horse increased its pace. Owing to the fact that the steeds of the boys were fresh, and to the circumstance that the animals of the gamblers had quite a slope to climb, the boys secured a good lead. They did not ride back up the valley, but down it, though they turned into another trail, as it divided just where they had halted for their meal. To get on this trail Morton and his cronies would have to breast a slope, and then swing over to the left. The boys lost sight of them for a moment. "I wonder why he came back after us?" asked Will. "Probably they were hanging around. They saw that no one came to join us, and they imagined it was safe to tackle us. But I'm not going to give up." "Me either. I'll fight first!" With set faces the brothers urged their horses on. But now their pursuers had gained the turn, and were thundering down the second valley after them. "Stop! stop!" yelled Morton. Jed and Will returned no answer. "If you don't halt we'll shoot!" added Haverhill. "Do you suppose they will?" asked Jed's brother anxiously. "One of them has a revolver out," he added, as he gave a hasty backward glance. "I don't believe so. They can't shoot very straight anyhow, with the way their horses and ours are going." "Are you going to stop?" yelled Morton again. "No!" cried Jed, as he urged his horse on down the mountain slope, while the pursuers came galloping on behind them. CHAPTER XXI WHAT HAPPENED TO GABE When Gabe Harrison started up the mountain, with the intention of prospecting around a bit, seeking for indications of gold, he fully expected to be back within two hours. It was his idea that he might see signs of a lead which would be better than the one he and the boys were on. Now if Gabe had had a horse that was used to mountain climbing several things in this story would not have happened. For a steed accustomed to scrambling over loose rocks, up steep slopes and down others still steeper, would have kept its footing, and not stumbled, as did Gabe's animal. The old miner had ridden a few miles, and was convinced that no gold could be found in that direction. He was on the point of returning when something happened. The horse stepped on a loose rock, on the edge of a gully, tried to recover its balance, in obedience to the frantic calls of Gabe, and his yankings on the bridle, and then pitched forward, throwing the old man off its back. When Gabe recovered his senses, after many hours of unconsciousness, he found himself lying on the cold ground. He was quite wet with the dew, and lame and stiff. It was dark, and when he tried to move such a pain shot through his left leg that he had to lie quietly. "Well, I wonder what in the world happened to me," said Gabe, speaking aloud. Then it came back to him, how his horse had stumbled with him, and how he had fallen into the gully, the last thing he remembered being when his head hit a stone.