w hours.

Where were they? Recalling the horses he and his companion had left
picketed not far away, Jack felt a momentary qualm. If the Dinsmores
should happen to stumble on them the situation would be an awkward one.
The hunters would become the hunted. Deprived of their horses and
supplies, the Rangers would be at a decided disadvantage. The only
option left them would be to come to close quarters with the rustlers or
to limp back home discouraged and discredited. Roberts preferred not to
have his hand forced. He wanted to wait on opportunity and see what it
brought him.

He moved forward to the camp and made a swift examination of it. Several
men had slept here last night and four had eaten breakfast a few hours
since. He could find no extra supplies, which confirmed his opinion that
this was only a temporary camp of a night or two. A heavy buzzing of
flies in a buffalo wallow not far away drew his steps. The swarm covered
a saddle of deer from which enough for a meal had been slashed before it
was thrown away.

The Ranger moved nothing. He left no signs other than his tracks to show
that a stranger had been at the camp. As soon as he had inspected it he
withdrew.

He had decided that the first thing to do was to join Ridley, make sure
of their horses, and leave his companion in charge of them. Afterward he
could return alone and watch the rustlers.

Since he knew that the rustlers were away from their camp, the Ranger
did not feel the need of taking such elaborate precautions against
discovery during the return journey. He made a wide circuit, but his
long, easy stride carried him swiftly over the ground. Swinging round
the valley in which the herd was grazing, he came up from the rear to
the brush-covered summit where he had left Ridley.

Arthur had gone. He was nowhere in sight. Nor was there any sign to show
where he had gone.

It was possible that some alarm might have sent him back to look after
the horses. Jack ran down the incline to the little draw where the
animals had been picketed. The broncos were safe, but Ridley was not
with them.

CHAPTER XXX

ROGUES DISAGREE

With a heart that pounded queerly Arthur watched his friend cross the
valley and work his way to the ridge beyond. Even after Jack had
disappeared, he waited, nerves jumpy, for the crack of a rifle to carry
news of death in the mesquite.

No tidings of tragedy came. The minutes fulfilled the hour. The many
small sounds o