Then she refilled it, and began shooting again.
Presently she heard answering shots from the direction of the camp, and
in a few minutes several horsemen came tearing over the top of a distant
hill, to disappear into a valley and come into sight again on a nearer
hill. Soon, with a shout that fairly split the air, six of the boys, led
by Ben and Kit, threw themselves from their saddles in front of her.
"What's the matter?" they yelled in unison.
"Throw that steer off Ted," she commanded.
Then they saw what the matter was, and altogether they hoisted the
steer, and Ted was freed of the terrible weight.
He was scarcely breathing, for the wind had been completely knocked out
of him. Ben laid him flat on his back, and, straddling him, with his
knees on the ground, began to work Ted's arms with an upward, backward,
and outward motion, as if he was restoring the breath to a half-drowned
person. Soon a flush came into Ted's face, and he gave a gasp, and his
breath came in short, painful inhalations. As Ben continued the
exercise, his breathing became regular, and he opened his eyes with
surprise, to see so many of his friends about him, and particularly big
Ben straddling him and apparently holding him down. He thought at first
that Ben was responsible for his prostrate condition, or that he had
struck him.
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