erally riding parallel with us, out of sight in coulees, watching us
continually."

"But how could they poison our cattle, without our seeing some of them
sometimes?" asked Kit.

"Easy enough. Probably there are only two of them, for more would be in
the way, and run more risk of being seen."

"But about the poisoning part of it? I don't understand how they could
do it."

"That's easy, too. They are probably a day ahead of us all the time,
guessing at our probable direction of march. If they guess it wrong,
they try it over again, for they are never more than a mile or so away.
When they pick out a place where they think we will graze, they scatter
the Paris green on the grass for the cattle to lick up. It takes a
good-sized dose of the poison to affect so large an animal as a steer,
and that is probably why we have not lost more of our stock by that
means. They could never get quite enough, that is, the most of them, to
kill them. Such as are dead did get enough to make them loco first, and
kill them afterward."

"Another thing," said Kit: "We have had several heavy rains in the early
morning lately, and that has served to run the poison off."

"I wouldn't wonder, also, if they haven't missed our route several
times, and left the Paris green to poison some other herd," said Stella.

"Their salvation, I am convinced, is also due to the peculiar quality of
the water they have found to drink. Who knows but that it is a perfect
antidote for the Paris green?" said Ben wisely.

"Oh, slush!" interposed Bud. "I reckon ther truth is they haven't begun
ter poison in right earnest yet. From ther letter, I would think that
they had just received the stuff and were trying it out before they
begin the big poisoning stunt. I'll bet Woofer is the chief actor, and
that he's just met ther feller what brought ther poison out with him.
Having found that it worked on a few o' ther cattle, they'll spread it
on thick ahead o' us. An' ther wust part o' it is, thar don't seem no
way ter circumvent 'em, onless we go hunt fer 'em, an' put 'em out er
business quick."

"Well said, Bud," was Ted's comment. "There's no way of discovering the
confounded stuff. We can't go ahead with a microscope and a chemical
laboratory to analyze every blade of grass along the route for Paris
green. The best we can do is to take our chances and keep going north.
But I think we'd better establish outside picket lines which will stay
well in advance, and o