Blaze increased his speed, heading straight for him, snarling savagely. The coyote was a little larger than he, but Blaze and Ruler had tackled the great timber wolf together, and he was not in the least afraid of him! At ten paces off he suddenly let out a volley of ferocious terrier barks, vengeful with the fury of the lion, terrifying to the creature attacked. Then he charged. That coyote did not wait! That savage attack, even by a wounded dog, was too much for his cowardly nature! There was a squeal, a yelp, a bawl of pain as Blaze’s fangs laid open his shoulder to the bone--and then a gray streak vanished through the creosotes so fast that nothing but a greyhound could have overtaken him! Blaze loped on, grim, dogged, determined. The sun was setting now, and travel would be more endurable. Scotty’s canteen had given him new life. He was going to win through to camp if he had to bring in every coyote in the desert after him! The trail wound down around the flanks of the crater and brought him back to the sands again. From there it went on, mile after mile, while a grand and beetling mountain range loomed up nearer and nearer. Blaze felt himself growing weaker again. The sand had given way to the most awful of broken black lava under foot, rough and sharp beyond description. The horses had picked their way over it with difficulty; to the weak and wounded dog it was a purgatory of toil and it took every last ounce of strength out of him. Darkness fell. Blaze could see fairly well in the dark, and he needed to, here! Thorny ocatillas, devilish choyas and stunted bisangas that were balls of sharp thorns outside, had to be seen and avoided if he would save his eyes. Twice he lay down and gave it all up. Only the steadily freshening scent of the white mustang’s tracks gave him courage to rise again and keep on. Then great walls of ragged black rock loomed up, dark and forbidding, ahead in the gloom. It seemed the end of all things to Blaze. What in all the world was he coming to! He stopped, shivering all over with the sharp cold of the desert night. His wound ached unbearably. He lay down puzzled, wearied at the mere sight of this hideous black rocky mass ahead. It was perhaps the tenth time since leaving the crater that he had done so. Blaze groaned and gave up the pursuit of Master in a final disconsolate howl. But this time the barking challenge of _another dog_ answered, sounding faintly in his ears! Blaze raised his head. Ruler! He knew the hound’s voice well! He got up, yelped a hoarse, throaty cry and crawled on. Ruler’s challenge grew more and more menacing and then there came the sound of men’s voices. And then Master’s voice, ringing out, stern and vibrant: “Halt, thar! Is that you, Sid?” it asked.