of the
ranch--riding herd and helping in the round up and shipping--and
quickly saddled to accompany the boys on their ride through the night,
in an endeavor to pick up the trail of those who had committed the
robbery at Spur Creek.

"Well, I guess we're off this time," remarked Dick, as once more they
turned their horses' heads in the general direction supposed to have
been taken by the robbers.

It was, as you may surmise, pretty much guess work, and yet there were
some clues on which to work, and the boys hoped to pick up others as
they went along, by stopping at different ranch houses and making
inquiries. Then, too, cowboys would be met with here and there, and
they might have seen some trace of the fugitives.

In the olden days, before the West was as much traveled as it is now,
it might have been possible for pioneers, such as those featured in the
novels of James Fenimore Cooper, to have followed and picked up the
trail by the mere physical evidences left on the ground--a footprint
here, a hoofmark there, the pressed down grass and so on.

But this was out of the question now, though some slight marks might be
discovered in the daytime by the sharp eyes of Billee Dobb, who was a
veteran cowboy and plainsman. In this Bud and his companions would
have to rely on Billee, as the boys themselves had not had much
experience in this line.

"Well, Billee, what do you think of it all?" asked Bud as he rode
beside the old man, while Nort and Dick loped along in the rear.

"You mean what happened to-night, Bud?"

"Yep." Bud was clipping his words short to save time.

"Well," said the old man slowly, "I don't know just what to think.
It's all mighty queer, but one thing I'll say--this didn't all happen
just to-night."

"You mean it was planned in advance?" asked Dick.

"Sartin sure, son! It was a put-up job if ever there was one. Why,
just look back over it. Here we all were in peace and quiet, and Mr.
Merkel was entertainin' his friends, when up rides a bunch of onery
Greasers, if I'm any judge."

"What makes you think they were Greasers?" asked Bud.

"'Cause no decent white men would act like they did. Up they rides,
pretending to be sneakin' in on us, maybe to lift a few horses or else
stampede a bunch of our cows. But that wasn't their intention at all."

"If it was, Slim and the rest of 'em spoiled their plans," observed
Nort.

"Don't worry, they had no notion of takin' anything," declared Old