eed in hiding his own trail at times, but he cannot cover that
of his horse so that the trained scout will fail to find it.

It was found that the mustangs had been ridden away without being
accompanied by other animals. The number of moccasin tracks at a certain
point showed that a party of warriors had accidentally detected the
animals, each of which was mounted by a single Indian and ridden away,
the warriors taking altogether a different direction. This simplified
matters, and was not displeasing to Dick and Tom, for two of these
active redskins could, as a matter of course, be circumvented with much
more ease than could ten times that number.

Accompanied by Ned, the hunters led the way up out of the hollow,
crossed as it was by the stream of icy cold and clear water and covered
with the richest grass, and entered a more rocky section, where the
horses must have experienced considerable difficulty in traveling, as
numerous places showed where their hoofs had slipped upon the stones.

"We can beat them on that," said Dick, when they had trailed them for a
short distance. "They can't be many hours ahead of us, and when we do
catch up with 'em, Tom, we'll warm 'em; what do you say?"

Tom nodded his head to signify that he agreed with these sentiments
exactly, and the trio pressed forward harder than ever.

There were many places in which the thieves had progressed with no
little trouble, and their pursuers, unimpeded by the mustangs, were
gaining rapidly upon them; but this by no means insured success. A
hundred difficulties remained in the way, and the most that the two
hunters could hope was that the two Apaches had no suspicion of being
followed. If they believed themselves secure, it followed as a matter of
course that they would take no precautions against any surprise from the
rear. The hunters went forward at a rate which was exceedingly trying to
Ned, but he bravely held up until something like a mile was passed, when
Tom, who acted as a leader, suddenly paused.

"We must wait here till we make an observation," said he, in a low tone.
"I take it that we aren't very far from the scamps, and we must look out
and not spile the whole thing when we've got it all in shape."

For the entire distance they had been steadily advancing upon higher
ground, and having now reached the culminating point, it was necessary
to look ahead and learn whither they were going before making any rash
venture into an entirely dif