fruitless search for that person, the foreman
of the Tin-Cup in vengeance for the murder of his wife, the blasting of
his prospects and the loss of his herds; Buck, out of sympathy for his
friend and also because they had been partners in the Double Y. Now that
the years had passed and the long-sought-for opportunity was believed
to be at hand, there was promised either a cessation of the outrages or
that Buck would never again see his friends.

When the three mounted and came to him for final instructions Buck
forced himself to be almost repellent in order to be capable of coherent
speech. Hopalong glanced sharply at him and then understood, Red was all
attention and eagerness and remarked nothing but the words.

"Have yu ever heard of Slippery Trendley?" Harshly inquired the foreman.

They nodded, and on the faces of the younger men a glint of hatred
showed itself, but Frenchy wore his poker countenance.

Buck continued: "Th' reason I asked yu was because I don't want yu to
think yore goin' on no picnic. I ain't shore it's him, but I've had
some hopeful information. Besides, he is th' only man I knows of who's
capable of th' plays that have been made. It's hardly necessary for me
to tell yu to sleep with one eye open and never to get away from yore
guns. Now I'm goin' to tell yu th' hardest part: yu are goin' to search
th' Staked Plain from one end to th' other, an' that's what no white
man's ever done to my knowledge.

"Now, listen to this an' don't forget it. Twenty miles north from Last
Stand Rock is a spring; ten miles south of that bend in Hell Arroyo is
another. If yu gets lost within two days from th' time yu enters th'
Plain, put yore left hand on a cactus sometime between sun-up an'
noon, move around until yu are over its shadow an' then ride straight
ahead--that's south. If you goes loco beyond Last Stand Rock, follow th'
shadows made before noon--that's th' quickest way to th' Pecos. Yu all
knows what to do in a sand-storm, so I won't bore you with that. Repeat
all I've told yu," he ordered and they complied.

"I'm tellin' yu this," continued the foreman, indicating the two
auxiliaries, "because yu might get separated from Frenchy. Now I
suggests that yu look around near the' Devils Rocks: I've heard that
there are several water holes among them, an' besides, they might be
turned into fair corrals. Mind yu, I know what I've said sounds damned
idiotic for anybody that has had as much experience with th