He was about to say, that he believed he would not go any further, but that he would return home and leave Pierre and his band to take care of his three enemies; but his keeper did not give him time to finish the sentence.  Seeing that Arthur had no intention of following the rest of the party, the robber took his lasso from the pommel of his saddle, and with it struck his prisoner’s horse a blow that caused the fiery animal to give one tremendous spring, which brought him to the very brink of the precipice.  In his efforts to stop himself, a portion of the earth was detached by his hoofs and fell with a loud noise into the abyss, bounding down its rocky sides, and crashing through bushes and branches of trees in its rapid descent to the bottom.  The horse, frightened by the sound, and smarting under the blow of the lasso, reared so straight upon his hind legs that he seemed in imminent danger of toppling over into the chasm; and then, for the first time in his life, Arthur found himself in real peril.  He screamed loudly, clung to the horn of his saddle with a death grip, and closed his eyes, expecting every instant to find himself whirling through the air toward the bottom of the gorge.  But help was near:  the strong hand of his keeper grasped the bridle, and brought the horse back upon firm ground.

“Now, then, go on!” commanded the Ranchero, without giving his prisoner time to recover from his fright.

Arthur was powerless to obey, for so great was his terror that he could not move a muscle; but his horse, being left to himself, stepped boldly upon the ledge, and followed after the rest of the party, who had, by this time, disappeared around the base of the mountain.

CHAPTER XIV.

A dinner in the mountains.

Pass Christian—­for that was the name of the gorge—­was two miles long.  About half that distance from the entrance, was a natural recess in the mountains, comprising perhaps half an acre, which was covered with grass and stunted oaks, and watered by a spring that gushed out from under a huge bowlder, which had fallen into the glade from the mountains above.  Here the robber chief had decided to remain long enough to send a message to Mr. Winters.  The horses had been unsaddled, and were cropping the grass, and the Rancheros were stretched out under the shade of the trees—­all except two of their number, one of whom, having lighted a fire, was engaged in cooking the dinner, and the other was standing near the entrance to the glade, leaning on his rifle, and keeping a close watch over the prisoners.  Frank and his two friends were reposing on their blankets near the spring, and when Arthur rode up, they greeted him with a broad grin.

“Well, Colonel,” said Frank, “you come near going back to India by a short route, didn’t you?”

“Did you ever travel on horseback in such frightful places as this, during your wanderings in Europe?” asked Johnny.