espite the
mountain trails--most of them hazardous--through which they must still
pass.

And yet the men were restless. The continued presence of an invisible
menace near them, disturbed the men. They had not seen the mysterious
riders again, but there was not a man in the outfit who did not feel
them--not a man but was convinced that the riders were still trailing
them, watching them.

Long ago the younger men had ceased to laugh and joke. During the day
they kept gazing steadily into the gulf of space that surrounded them,
carefully scrutinizing the timber and the virgin brush which might form
a covert; and at night they were sullen, expectant; every man wearing
his gun when he rolled himself in his blanket.

It was not fear that had seized them. They were rugged, hardy,
courageous men who had looked death in the face many times, defying it,
mocking it; and no visible danger could have disturbed them.

But this danger was not visible; it was stealthy, secret, lurking near
them, always threatening, always expected. It might stalk behind them;
it might be flanking them as they rode; or it might creep upon them in
the night.

Blackburn had fallen into a vicious mood. His eyes glowed with the
terrible, futile rage that surged in his veins, it was a reflection of a
wrath that grew more and more intolerant as the days passed and the
danger that portended did not materialize.

"Boss," he said to Lawler on the tenth day following that on which
Garvin had reported the presence of the riders behind them; "the boys is
gettin' jumpy. They're givin' one another short answers, an' they're
growlin' about things they never noticed before.

"I'm gettin' fed up on this thing, too. It's a cinch them riders is
following us. I seen 'em dustin' north of us this mornin'. I ain't said
anything to the boys, but it's likely they've seen 'em, too--for they've
got their eyes peeled. It's gettin' under my skin, an' if they don't
come out into the open pretty soon and give us an idee of what game
they're playin', me an' some of the boys is goin' to drag 'em out!"

Yet Blackburn did not carry out his threat. He knew pursuit of the
riders would be futile, for there were no further signs of them for
several days, and Blackburn knew the riders would have no trouble in
eluding them in the vast wilderness through which the herd had been
passing for a week. They went on, continuing to watch, though there were
no further signs of the men.

The