Where the road leaves the ridge for Fall Creek Valley, Sammy never tightened the slack rein, and the pony never shortened his stride by so much as an inch.  It was well that he was hill bred, for none but a mountain horse could have kept his feet at such a terrific pace down the rocky slope.  Down the valley road, past the mill, and over the creek they flew; then up the first rise of the ridge beyond.  The pony was breathing hard now, and the girl encouraged him with loving words and endearing terms; pleading with him to go on, go on, go on.

At last they reached the top of the ridge.  The way was easier now.  Here and there, where the clouds were breaking, the stars looked through; but over the distant hills, the lightning still played, showing which way the storm had gone; and against the sky, now showing but dimly under ragged clouds and peeping stars, now outlined clearly against the flashing light, she saw the round treeless form of Old Dewey above her home.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

Jim Lane keeps his promise.

Sammy, on her tired pony, approached the Lookout on the shoulder of Dewey.  As they drew near a figure rose quickly from its place on the rock, and, running swiftly along the ledge, concealed itself in the clump of cedars above the trail on the southern side of the mountain.  A moment later the almost exhausted horse and his rider passed, and the figure, slipping from the ledge, followed them unobserved down the mountain.

Nearing the house Sammy began to wonder what she should do next.  With all her heart the girl believed in her father’s innocence.  She did not know why those men were at her home.  But she did know that the money that helped her father over the drought had come through the shepherd; the Matthews family, too, had been helped the same way.  Surely Dad Howitt was incapable of any crime.  It was all some terrible mistake; some trap from which her father must be saved.  But Sammy knew, too, that Wash Gibbs and his companions were bad men, who might easily be guilty of the robbery.  To help them escape the officers was quite a different matter.

Leaving the trembling Brownie in a clump of bushes a little way from the clearing, the girl went forward on foot, and behind her still crept the figure that had followed from the Lookout.  Once the figure paused as if undecided which course to pursue.  Close by, two saddle horses that had carried their riders on many a long ride were tied to a tree a few feet from the corner of the barn.  Sammy would have recognized these, but in her excitement she had failed to notice them.

At first the girl saw no light.  Could it be that the officers were wrong? that there was no one at the cabin after all?  Then a little penciled gleam set her heart throbbing wildly.  Blankets were fastened over the windows.

Sammy remembered that a few days before a bit of chinking had fallen from between the logs in the rear of the cabin.  She had spoken to her father about it, but it was not likely that he had remembered to fix it.  Cautiously she passed around the house, and, creeping up to the building, through the crevice between the logs, gained a clear view of the interior.