d only that he had not had a chance to take a shot at that
camp.

Slone walked the horse for an hour, and then decided that he could well
risk a halt for the night.

Before dawn he was up, warming his chilled body by violent movements,
and forcing himself to eat.

The rim of the west wall changed from gray to pink. A mocking-bird
burst into song. A coyote sneaked away from the light of day. Out in
the open Slone found the trail made by Creech's mustangs and by the
horse of Cordts's man. The latter could not be very far ahead. In less
than an hour Slone came to a clump of cedars where this man had camped.
An hour behind him!

This canyon was open, with a level and narrow floor divided by a deep
wash. Slone put Wildfire to a gallop. The narrow wash was no obstacle
to Wildfire; he did not have to be urged or checked. It was not long
before Slone saw a horseman a quarter of a mile ahead, and he was
discovered almost at the same time. This fellow showed both surprise
and fear. He ran his horse. But in comparison with Wildfire that horse
seemed sluggish. Slone would have caught up with him very soon but for
a change in the lay of the land. The canyon split up and all of its
gorges and ravines and washes headed upon the pine-fringed plateau, now
only a few miles distant. The gait of the horses had to be reduced to a
trot, and then a walk. The man Slone was after left Creech's trail and
took to a side cleft. Slone, convinced he would soon overhaul him, and
then return to take up Creech's trail, kept on in pursuit. Then Slone
was compelled to climb. Wildfire was so superior to the other's horse,
and Slone was so keen at choosing ground and short cuts, that he would
have been right upon him but for a split in the rock which suddenly
yawned across his path. It was impassable. After a quick glance Slone
abandoned the direct pursuit, and, turning along this gulch, he gained
a point where the horse-thief would pass under the base of the
rim-wall, and here Slone would have him within easy rifle shot.

And the man, intent on getting out of the canyon, rode into the trap,
approaching to within a hundred yards of Slone, who suddenly showed
himself on foot, rifle in hand. The deep gulch was a barrier to Slone's
further progress, but his rifle dominated the situation.

"Hold on!" he called, warningly.

"Hold on yerself!" yelled the other, aghast, as he halted his horse. He
gazed down and evidently was quick to take in the facts.