n sight: "you remember those mulewhackers who
brought that freight here the other day, don't you? Well, Bristow and
the rest have gone off to join them. I am certain of it, for I heard
Bristow talking with them, and they assured him that the wagon-master
would give him steady work and good wages if he would hire out to him.
Bristow didn't hesitate to talk with them about it in the presence of a
dozen of us."

"That was only a ruse on his part," said Bob confidently. "If I followed
the trail of those teamsters I should have my trouble for my pains. I am
going as straight toward Brownsville as I can go, and I shall have my
hand on Mr. Bristow's collar before I have gone thirty miles. You may
rest assured that I shall not come back without him, for if I do I don't
know what the colonel will say to me."

Bob hastened toward the place where the horses were picketed, and there
he found the officer of the day and the six picked men who had been
detailed to accompany him. It was the work of but a few minutes to lead
their horses into the fort and put the saddles and bridles on them; and
when this had been done, and Bob and his men had secured their carbines,
sabres and revolvers and put two days' rations in their haversacks, they
mounted and rode through the gate at a sharp trot. They were quiet and
orderly enough as long as they remained within sight of the fort, but
when the first ridge over which they passed shut them out from view they
abandoned their efforts to keep in column, threw off all restraint and
shouted and sang at the top of their voices. They looked upon an
expedition like this as a "lark," and enjoyed it as much as a schoolboy
enjoys a picnic.

Bob did not stop at the first ranches he passed, for he knew that the
deserters (provided, of course, that they had fled along that trail)
must have gone by them in the night, and that consequently their inmates
could give him no information. Besides, Bob had learned by experience
that there was very little confidence to be placed in anything the
ranchemen might say regarding a deserter. A good many of them had served
in the army during the war, and, knowing how very hard is the life a
soldier leads, they sympathized with him in his efforts to escape, and
aided him by every means in their power. Where there was one farmer or
stock-raiser who would give a squad like Bob's any information that
could be relied on, there were a dozen who would conceal the deserter in
thei