realized that they might easily have changed their direction,
once they were out of sight of the men. They might have gone eastward
toward the ranch-house--which they had not--or westward into the
mountains. Once or twice Buck considered the possibility of the old man's
having stumbled on a rich lode of precious metal. But as far as he knew no
trace of gold had ever been found in these mountains. Moreover, though
Lynch was perfectly capable of murdering his employer for that knowledge,
his next logical move would have been an immediate taking up of the
claims, instead of which he remained quietly on the ranch to carry on his
slow and secret plotting.

Stratton long ago dismissed that possibility. There remained only the
north pasture, and the longer he considered it the more he became
convinced that Thorne had met his death there, and that the chances were
strong that somewhere in those wastes of worthless desert land lay the key
to the whole enthralling mystery.

Buck was so eager to start his investigations that it irked him to have to
spend the few remaining hours of the afternoon in idleness. But as he knew
that the undertaking would take a full day or even longer, he possessed
his soul with patience and made arrangements for an early start next
morning.

The dawn was just breaking when he left camp mounted on Pete, the
Rocking-R horse that he had found so reliable in the rough country. The
simplest and most direct way would have been to descend to level ground
and ride along the edge of the Shoe-Bar land. But he dared not take any
chances of being observed by Lynch or his gang, and was forced to make a
long detour through the hills.

The way was difficult and roundabout. Frequently he was turned back by
blind canyons or gullies which had no outlet, and there were few places
where the horse could go faster than a walk. To Buck's impatient spirit it
was all tiresome and exasperating, and he had moments of wondering whether
he was ever going to get anywhere.

Finally, about the middle of the afternoon, he was cheered for the first
time by an unexpected glimpse of his goal. For several miles he had been
following a rough trail which wound around the side of a steep, irregular
hill. Coming out abruptly on a little plateau, with the tumbled rocks
rising at his back, there spread out suddenly before him to the east a
wide, extended sweep of level country.

At first he could scarcely believe that the sandy stretch b