"It's an unbranded cow or calf that don't b'long to nobody, and
consequently it don't make no difference whether nobody or somebody
brands or kills it."

The rhetoric of this sentence may not have been faultless, but its
meaning was clear to the boys. They ate until they wished no more, and
were vastly relieved to note that something was left for another meal.

"That'll see us through till morning," said Jack, "but how about
to-morrow and the next day?"

"If we don't see anything to kill, we must wait till we git to the
ranch."

Fred groaned.

"You'll have to tie me in the saddle, for I shan't be able to sit up."

The smile on the face of the guide raised the hope that he was not in
earnest in making this dreadful announcement, but neither Jack nor Fred
were quite easy in mind.

The halt was less than an hour, when the three were in the saddle again.
Hazletine, instead of pressing directly toward the ranch that was their
destination, bore to the left, thus approaching the Wind River range.

"There's a little settlement off to the right," he said, "of the name of
Sweetwater; we could reach it by night, but it takes us a good many
miles out of our path, and there's nothing to be gained by losing the
time."

"Are you following a straight course to the ranch?"

"Pretty near; but I'm edging to the left, toward the foot-hills, 'cause
there's better camping-ground over there."

This was satisfactory, and the youths were not the ones to question a
decision of so experienced a guide and mountaineer. Besides, they had
hope that one reason for the slight change of course was that it
increased the chance of obtaining game. For the present, the question of
food supply was the most absorbing one that demanded attention. Other
matters could wait, but a sturdy, growing lad finds his appetite
something whose cravings can be soothed only by the one method that
nature intended.

CHAPTER III.

ON GUARD.

The beautiful weather continued unchanged throughout the afternoon. As
the sun declined in the sky there was a perceptible coolness in the air,
but the exercise of riding removed all necessity for using their
blankets.

Although the party had been edging toward the foot-hills for hours, it
seemed to the boys that they were as far off as ever. They had covered
many miles, but those who have travelled in the West know the deceptive
character of the crystalline atmosphere, so far as distances are
concerned. Howev