time when words were useless. What was necessary was action and
quick action at that.

"Hurry with that rope!" commanded Ned.

The pony slowed up as they approached the bank of the river, but Ned
was in no mood for trifling now. He brought down the stick on the
animal's hip with a terrific whack.

Bad-eye angered by the blow, squealed and leaped into the air with
all four feet free of the ground.

"Hi-yi!" exclaimed the Pony Rider sharply, again smiting the animal
while the latter was still in the air.

Ned's plan was to enter the stream at that point and swim down with
the pony until they should have reached the boys and rescued them
from their perilous position. While the bluff was sandy at the point
where they had fallen in, down below, where Tad was now desperately
clinging to the rock, the stream wound through a rocky cut, whose
high sides were slippery and uncertain, especially in the darkness
of the night.

Bad-eye needed no further goading to force him to do his master's
bidding. With another squeal of protest the little animal plunged
for the bank. No sooner had his forward feet reached over the edge
of it than the treacherous sands gave way beneath them.

The pony pivoted on its head, landing violently on its back. Ned had
dismounted without the least effort on his part, so that he was well