The tent in which they would sleep was in four sections, each rider carrying one. The food, too, was divided into packets and this, except for weapons, was about all they needed, save blankets that went with the tent.
“Well, we’re off!” called Ned as he and his chums, with the professor, mounted their well-laden ponies and started away from the ranch.
“Good luck!” called the foreman.
“And don’t lose the rustlers when you start back with ’em!” added his assistant. “Better hog-tie ’em or they might slip loose.”
Some of the boys chuckled at this sally of wit, but others showed by their attitude that their sympathies were more with the boys than with Hinkee Dee.
The trail up the mountain was not an easy one, but the sure-footed ponies made it very well indeed. At first Professor Snodgrass stopped his steed every few steps to get off to look for some bug he fancied he saw, or to gather a specimen of a new plant or flower.
But Jerry pointed out to him that if thus delayed they would not reach the summit in time to hunt any moths that night, and admitting the right of this the professor kept on with the boys.
“Just what do you expect to find when you get up there, Jerry?” he asked.
“I wish I knew,” was the answer. “But we’ve got to find something somewhere to solve this puzzle.”
“That’s what,” agreed his chums.