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bem Ciba etemonimner ue
ceepeenemnsamerenenh concent ne Camere
BRAVE AND BOLD. a as
‘By ‘the time ‘they had done's 50. the foremost. part of. the
land.
There was not : a. moment to be lost.
“Splash, splash,.splash, splash, splash, splash!
Z
One. after another the; horses. leaped into. the foaming
"water. .
“As Van rose to the ‘Gurfate on ‘the back of his steed,
he at once urged the aninial toward the nearest shore,
which was “hot + over twenty yards distant. .
-He had scarcely done so when he heard: ‘a grinding :
crash, followed immediately ‘by a roar that was deafening. .
The timber -raft, was bent and,:twisted in.a hundred -
different shapes, and then for.a moment became wedged
in the narrow. gut through which . the turbulent . water *-
flowed.
This.o one ‘thing saved the lives of o our friends.
The tangled mass cf logs stayed the current for an
instant, and the water became almost still. "
cn mighty efforts the horses swam for the shore,
eaching it just as the improvised dam gave. way. with
a 2 loud crash,
With a feeling of. mute ‘thankfulness, Van and. his
companions fell upon the. necks of. their faithful animals.
‘ Their escape from a certain death seemed nothing
short of a- miracle.
For several minutes they stood upon the river bank,
gazing at the roaring flood before them.
As’ it was near nightfall, Van suggested that- ‘they
find a. suitable spot to pitch their camp for the night, and,
Start.a.fire to dry.their wet clothing.
Following -the course. of. the turbulent stream, they
started’ forward ata quick trot.
In a few minutes they reached the crest of a monster
waterfall, which went dashing fully three hundred feet
itoa blealk- -looking valley below. :
, In the center of the valley was a smooth sheet of
4 Water, which was now filled with the logs.that had formed
: their. raft a short time before..
qT guess there is no use of following Doe Clancy any
| further,” observed Jack Howard.
; falls it was the last of him.”
“Maybe he didn’t go over,’ » eeturned Van...“We didn’t,
you know.” - ‘a
“T don’t think He did,
life,” exclaimed Joe. “Look down there!”
. The boy pointed to the valley below. |
All hands ‘instantly turned their gaze in the direction
indicated.
They beheld Doc Clancy and his companion coolly rid-
ing through. the valley, with their horses on a slow walk,
as though: nothing had happened.
“Well, that beats me ! said Lank Bdwards.
we do now?” .
“Why, go down there, of course,” returned our hero,
Promptly. “Here is a footpath, and—by Jove! here are
the hoof prints of the two villains’ horses. Come on.’
As Van seemed to be the recognized leader of the
Party, his friends promptly follow ed him.
The path they ‘started to descend was a,rather steep
One, but by. good management they succeeded in getting
to the level country below in safety. . -
By the time they arrived at the foot of the falls,
“What I
”
raft was within a few: feet of striking | a rocky point of 5
‘ face, and, urging their horses into a brisk canter, our
. friends started in pursuit.
_ expected to overtake Clancy in very short order.
“been carried several yards from the spot by their, fright,
“If he went over that.
~ objects at a distance greater thar a.dozen yards; and
“unless he bears a. charmed
> dwarfs had sprung upon ‘them, ‘
“the
two men they were following had disappeared around, 2
projection of land. ~
But the trail was as plain as the nose-on a person "30
ONES EE 1 ow
ie ETT
The noise of the falling water was. so great that the _
thud of the horse’s hoofs could not be heard; and: they
2 aM te rics EE HT
a RTs
The sun had now disappeared below the horizon, a and :
it was growing dark rapidly, but they. could stiil see the;
trail very plainly.
» However, in less than five minutes, it. was: lost: alto-
gether, sowing to the fact that the pathway was now, of
solid rock.
But, weapons in hand, ‘the six bold adventurers kept on,
expecting every minute to find soft earth once more.
Suddenly a wild; unearthly noise rang out, which.
sounded like the barking of a thousand dogs.
Joe’s horse shied and “collided with the animal ridden.
by Jack Howard. The consequence was that beth riders’
were thrown to the ground in a confused heap.
Before the rest of the party could comprehend what
had happened, a veritable swarm of dwarfish figures burst
from the cover of the adjacent Tocks | and rushed upon
them.
Jack Howard -and Joe. were instantly seized by the
curious beings, and then, as if by magic, the Ww hole. crowd:
disappeared
Meanwhile, Van and the rest.of his companions hea
wase eat
Ae Pre CE RT TRON Ci eaten yet tm gr
woptpye he
sean we oe
HEMI EM ST mee
ened horses.
So suddenly had the whele thing occurred. that they
were not aware of the fact that Jack ‘and Joe were missing.
until they beheld their two riderless steeds galloping
madly from the- spot. .
“What in thunderation has happened, anyhow? 2 gasped
lank Edwards, gazing about him in dz imfounded, ama
ment.
“The Lord only knows!” returned Prof. Drearland,
who was thoroughly frightened.
‘It was now so dark-they were unable to “distinguish
the four remaining ones in the party were at a complete
loss as to what course to pursue. : pool
£Well,” remarked Van, at length, when they came to
a halt about a hundred yards from the spot where the
‘Wwe must make an effort
to find Jack and Joe. There must certainly be some open-
ing around here somewhere, where those little savages
went in.’ a
“That is certainly so,” spoke up Dr. Pestle.
Our hero now dismounted and began searching about |
the place where the dwarfs had disappeared.
Almost immiediately he discovered a long, narrow rift.’
which extended into the side of a hill that formed one
of the boundaries of the valley. | : .
“Here is where they went!” “he exclaimed, in an excited
manner. “Come on, now; we must rescue Jack and Joe!” «
“What are we going to do with the horses ?" "ask ed the
professor, :
“Hobble them so they can’t stray’ far away,”
was 5 the
reply. “Hurry up, now.”