il
again he should call or go in search of the other.

Possibly Paul had gone a mile, when a rumbling, heavy voice halted him.
No trail had he found, but--there was Anderson coming, having at last
rounded the head of the slough.

"You find him yet?" meaning the vanished trail. "He bane go dis way?"

"No, we lost it on the ridge like we did before. Chip is looking for it on
the other side of this slope. I hope he has better luck than us."

"Let's res' a leetle, Paul," and Nels slumped heavily down.

At this juncture came a faint call from the other side of the ridge. Paul
jumped up again, saying:

"Come on, Mr. Anderson! That must be Chip. He's found something, for we
agreed to let each other know, whichever came on anything first."

And Paul gave an answering shout, starting up the gentle rise of the rocky
elevation, on top of which both trails had vanished.

"Alright--I bane coomin'," responded Nels as he wearily got up and
tried to keep up with Paul's hasty steps, but soon gave that up. "I bane
tired--all een--das w'at."

Young Slider had felt all along the keenest interest in the recovery of
that stolen money. His dead father's participation therein probably kept
him stimulated by a desire to show his new-found friends, the Auto Boys
that he was worthy to be trusted.

After some futile search he was at length gratified to discover signs of
the vanished trail. It came down from the higher ground where the rocks
and gravel made it indistinguishable. Filled with new courage he followed
on, pleased that it became more plain as the lower ground grew softer
and more mushy. At this juncture he began calling to Paul, and perhaps
it was indiscreet in view of what presently happened.

But Chip was not thinking of himself. Instead, as he gave his last shout
and heard the faint echo of Paul's reply, he only thought that he was
again on the track of Murky. Where was Murky now?

"I hope we'll soon know," he said to himself as he plodded on, on--eyes on
the ground and seeing little of things around him. "I hope Paul hurries.
He'd help a lot--"

"Blame _me!_" A savage growl struck on Chip's ears. "It's that durned
little Slider cuss."

With a curdling chill Chip raised his eyes and was astounded by what
he saw. Having gone farther than he thought, amid his eagerness to get
on and his constant scrutiny of the trail, he saw around him the same
rocks rising to his right that they had approached the night before. And
ri