before. But Hunt Rennie was already explaining.

"Teodoro tells me that they've found traces of shod horses being driven
back in the canyons. This late the grass is beginning to brown, but there
are still some sections where stock can be wintered. I want to know more
about this. Since both of you are newcomers--" Rennie paused and then
added: "Your riding away from here might appear to others that you had
quit, were joining up with the mustangers on your own."

"To hunt horses?" Drew asked.

"Not wild ones."

"Sounds like trouble." Anse tied his bedroll.

"In this country we expect trouble, from any direction--including up and
down!" Rennie returned. "But I find it disturbing that broken stock is
being herded back there. Such maneuvers can mean only one thing--stolen
animals are being gathered for a run to the border. And some of them could
be army owned; a remount corral was raided just before I left town. I
would not care, just now, to have any army mounts located on this Range--no
matter where they were hidden or by whom. If they are there, I want to be
the one to find them and return them to the proper owners. It would please
certain parties to find stolen stock hereabouts--particularly army.

"Now"--he gave an order he obviously expected to be obeyed--"if you do find
anything, don't try to take over yourselves. That's final. This is nothing
to rush into just to burn powder. And above all I want no mixing it up
with any army patrol riding south. Do you both understand?"

Drew nodded.

"Yes, suh," Anse replied promptly. "We jus' git high behind an' take care.
What the mustangers got to do with this?"

"Nothing. Except they can show you the tracks, and with them you can cover
a good part of the country in question. There's been no Apache sign down
there, and Running Fox will accompany you--only not so openly as to be
noticed."

"You think someone may be watchin' the Stronghold?" Drew asked as he
buckled his saddlebags.

"I don't know anything for sure. But a couple of incidents lately have
suggested that someone knows a lot more about what's going on here than I
like. It would be easy enough to lie out in the hills and keep field
glasses on us down here. And when a man is familiar with the general
routine of a place, he can guess a sight too much and too close just by
watching the comings and goings. So--you're going to ride out within the
hour and be well along before you camp tonight. We can't waste ti