r suspect too late. Indeed, he
rode at first as if in no great haste, but as he turned his mount
into a narrow by-way, more a lane than a street that disappeared
between two mud walls, Weir saw him strike his heels into the pony's
flanks.

But for the startled movement of the nearby horses when Sorenson
took stirrup, Weir would not have looked that way. He might
possibly have seen the horseman start off, but that is not certain.
He unquestionably would have supposed him an ordinary rider if he
had not noticed the man until he reached the mouth of the lane.

Meantime the engineer had made his best speed to the line of waiting
horses. Slowing to a walk so as not to scare them, though as he
discovered on examination most of them looked too bony and spiritless
for that, he approached and carefully inspected the bunch. He took his
time in the selection: the more haste in choosing a mount might prove
less speed in the end. He tightened the saddle-girths and ran a finger
along the head straps of the bridle of the horse picked to judge their
fit, receiving a snap from the pony's teeth, which gave him
satisfaction. Not only was this animal a wiry, tough-looking little
beast, but he had life.

Up into the saddle Weir went, followed Sorenson's line to the lane,
down which he swung. Coming out into the next street, he pursued it to
an intersecting street, and there galloped for the edge of town
without trying to guess the way taken by his enemy. Once he reached
the open fields he would quickly get sight of the man racing away
somewhere on the mesa.

Evidently the quarry he pursued had not taken so direct a course as
Weir, for when the latter at length came forth where he could have a
wide view he perceived the horseman a quarter of a mile off and
further east, galloping south. The engineer at once raced thither to
gain the same road and turning into it made for Sorenson.

Thus the two men sped away from San Mateo. The wire fences and the
adobe houses of Mexicans owning little farms adjoining soon ceased.
The wide mesa lay on either side. Though a quarter of a mile had
separated the men when Weir first observed the other, the distance
between had been increased while the engineer was gaining the road,
until now the interval was almost twice as great.

Weir guessed the fleeing man's plan. Instead of seeking the railroad
for the present, he would disappear in the mountains, where with the
assistance of some loyal employee, cow