k at a water hole and rest.

"No, the beggars keep well ahead of us," agreed Blake, shading his eyes
with his hand and gazing off across the hot, sunlit stretch that lay
before them. "Oh, if they have opened those film boxes!" he exclaimed
hopelessly.

"They have ponies, and that's more than I calculated on," remarked Hank.
"I thought when they raided our camp that they were after our animals,
and when they didn't take 'em I thought it was because they were afraid
of being chased as horse-thieves by a sheriff's posse. Now I see they
didn't want our mounts, as they had plenty of their own. It was grub
they were after, and they got it."

"And our picture films," added Blake. "Don't forget that."

"That was only a mistake, I tell you," insisted Hank, "though, for that
matter, the Indians wouldn't hesitate to take 'em just for fun, if they
thought they could make trouble that way."

"And they will make a heap of trouble, too, I'm afraid," spoke Blake.

"Here now!" called Joe, in jollier tones. "Don't come any of that C. C.
Piper business, Blake. Look on the bright side."

"Well, I suppose I ought to, but it's hard work."

They had traveled all that morning, hoping to come up with the roving
band of Indians. But they had had no success.

Hank did pick up the trail of the raiders soon after starting out. The
Indians had left their horses tethered some distance from the camp, and
had crept up afoot, probably having spied Blake, Joe and Hank from afar
the previous evening. And though the moccasined feet of the savages left
little trace on the hard and sun-baked earth, there was enough "sign"
for so experienced a trailer as was Hank to pick up.

Thus he had been led to where the horses had been left, and after that
it was easy enough to follow the marks of the hoofs.

"There are about twenty-five in this band, as near as I can make out,"
said Hank, "and every one of 'em has a horse of some sort. Pretty good
travelers, too, I take it, since our animals were fresh and we haven't
been able to come up to 'em yet, though we've kept up a pretty fair
gait. But we'll get 'em yet."

"If only it isn't too late," spoke Blake, whose one fear was that the
valuable picture films would be spoiled. "Let's hurry on."

"Another little rest will do the horses good," said the cowboy guide.
"Then we can push on so much the faster. Our horses are our best
friends, and we've got to treat 'em right if we want the best service
out of them