the gradually receding hoof-beats showed
that they were still keeping their course to the north.

"Looks to me like some one was being chased," observed Sandy.

"It would seem that way to the unprejudiced mind!" added George.

Directly the sound of heavy boots scrambling over broken rocks,
accompanied by private and personal opinions of that part of Wyoming, of
rocky surfaces, and of midnight expeditions, came to the ears of the
listening boys. As the sounds drew nearer they grouped closer together.

"Here comes the boys who did the shooting!" exclaimed Tommy.

"I hope they won't mistake us for the men they're after!" George
suggested. "They look like rather tough citizens," he added, as the
bearded faces and roughly-clad figures of half a dozen men swept into
the firelight.

The men were all heavily armed, and it was clear that they were angry
from the top of their heads to the soles of their feet. Three presented
guns at the breasts of the boys while the other three stepped closer and
began asking questions.

"Sure, we saw the ginks go by!" Tommy answered in reply to the first
question. "I reckon they won't have anything to ride in about an hour if
they keep up that gait."

"Did they stop or say anything to you as they passed?" was asked.

"I should say not!" replied Tommy. "They went by like Mexicans going to
a bull-fight! They showed their guns, but they didn't say a word or do
any shooting!"

"What does it mean?" asked Will, approaching the man who appeared to be
the leader of the party.

"It means," was the reply, "that those two fellows are wanted down in
Sweetwater county for holding up a train on the Union Pacific. A party
of officers had them safe at Green River a couple of days ago, but they
broke loose in some way and came north."

"It's a wonder they headed straight for our campfire!" Will suggested.

"That's what puzzles me!" the other said. "Until I saw you were only
boys, probably out on a vacation, I thought the robbers might be
associates of yours."

"I hope they won't think so, too," Will answered. "We expect to stay
here two or three weeks, and we don't want to get into any mixup."

"They probably won't trouble you any," the officer remarked, "as they're
undoubtedly headed for the Bad Lands in Big Horn county. If they get
into that country we may as well give up the search."

"Well," Will suggested, "they won't have any horses to ride before
morning, and you may be able to overtak