Not a sign of a human being was the
Ranger able to find, though his keen eyes soon picked up the trail.
He followed it a short distance, finally having reached soft ground,
getting down on his knees and examining it critically.
When he looked up he found Tad standing over him.
"I thought I told you to stay back, young man?" he said sharply.
"I don't like to stay back when there's anything going on. What do
you find?"
"There were two of them. Here's where they mounted their ponies. I
wish I knew who they are. You see those fellows are watching."
"Watching you?"
"No. They came here to clean out the Pony Rider Boys, I reckon,"
laughed the Ranger. "They didn't expect to find me here. But when
they saw me they couldn't let the opportunity go without taking a pot
shot at me. I moved---I stretched---just at the right second, or I'd
have been a dead man before now."
"The cowards!" breathed Tad, his eyes glowing angrily.
"Oh, yes, they're all of that. They shoot when the other fellow isn't
looking, and they shoot to kill. But we might as well go back. I
could follow them, but it hardly is worth while. They will be hidden
long before we can run them down. They'll leave a blind trail pretty
soon after they get far enough away to make it safe for them to stop
and cover their tracks."
"But, will they not come back again?" urged Butler.
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