red to move.

"I reckon a pipe would help me make up my mind," said one.

"Wal, Bill," replied the other, dryly, "your mind's made up, else you'd
not say smoke."

"Why?"

"Because there ain't three pipefuls of thet precious tobacco left."

"Thet's one apiece, then.... Lin, come an' smoke the last pipe with us."

The tallest of the three, he who had brought the firewood, stood in the
bright light of the blaze. He looked the born rider, light, lithe,
powerful.

"Sure, I'll smoke," he replied.

Then, presently, he accepted the pipe tendered him, and, sitting down
beside the fire, he composed himself to the enjoyment which his
companions evidently considered worthy of a decision they had reached.

"So this smokin' means you both want to turn back?" queried Lin, his
sharp gaze glancing darkly bright in the glow of the fire.

"Yep, we'll turn back. An', Lordy! the relief I feel!" replied one.

"We've been long comin' to it, Lin, an' thet was for your sake,"
replied the other.

Lin slowly pulled at his pipe and blew out the smoke as if reluctant to
part with it. "Let's go on," he said, quietly.

"No. I've had all I want of chasin' thet damn wild stallion," returned
Bill, shortly.

The other spread wide his hands and bent an expostulating look upon the
one called Lin. "We're two hundred miles out," he said. "There's only a
little flour left in the bag. No coffee! Only a little salt! All the
hosses except your big Nagger are played out. We're already in strange
country. An' you know what we've heerd of this an' all to the south.
It's all canyons, an' somewheres down there is thet awful canyon none
of our people ever seen. But we've heerd of it. An awful cut-up
country."

He finished with a conviction that no one could say a word against the
common sense of his argument. Lin was silent, as if impressed.

Bill raised a strong, lean, brown hand in a forcible gesture. "We can't
ketch Wildfire!"

That seemed to him, evidently, a more convincing argument than his
comrade's.

"Bill is sure right, if I'm wrong, which I ain't," went on the other.
"Lin, we've trailed thet wild stallion for six weeks. Thet's the
longest chase he ever had. He's left his old range. He's cut out his
band, an' left them, one by one. We've tried every trick we know on
him. An' he's too smart for us. There's a hoss! Why, Lin, we're all but
gone to the dogs chasin' Wildfire. An' now I'm done, an' I'm glad of
it."

There was another short