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down to the last sage brush," declared the foreman. "But we will put a crimp in Megget's plans that he will not forget. My men are asleep by the fire, so there is no use waking them till we've decided what to do." "Then we must get down to business," returned his master. "I told the boys to ride up unless we returned in half an hour." A moment there was silence, as though each were waiting for the other to make some suggestion as to the best course to pursue, and then Mr. Wilder said: "So long as we know the headquarters are in the Lost Lode Mine, it seems to me we had better strike for it direct. Nails told me you knew some trail." And he looked at Pete. "I know trails enough, but which is the one that leads to the Lost Lode, I can't say. That's just the trouble. It would take a month of Sundays to ride them all down. While we were driving the cattle up here, I was trying to figure out which trail to take in case Nails found the mine was the place." "You have tried some of the trails, haven't you, Pete?" inquired the owner of the Three Stars. "Sure. There are six I know that don't lead to the mine. That leaves three between the pool and the Long Creek bottoms, and it may be any one of them." "Why do you think so?" asked his master. "Because I know the right trail is between the pool and the bottoms." Again the men lapsed into silence, which Mr. Snider broke by inquiring: "What was it that young Alden mentioned about men crossing the dirt?" "That's so. I'd forgotten it again," and quickly Mr. Wilder narrated the incident to his foreman. "Probably that was Megget," asserted Pete. "But that doesn't help us much. We don't know where that trail breaks on the plains. Besides, while we practically know the headquarters are near the old mine, we don't know they are driving the cattle there. They may be heading straight for Don Vasquez's ranch. "The plan that I kind of made up was to follow the trail from the bottoms till we were sure which way the raiders were headed. If it's for the mine, we can ride back along the plains and try out my three trails." "But why not follow the cattle?" interrupted Mr. Wilder. "Because I'd rather head them off than creep up on them. The raiders will be expecting us from behind. By riding on the prairie we can cover ten miles to their one, which will give us time to try out the three trails, and, when we find the right one, we can get in ahe
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