"Oh, I don't know," said his uncle, thoughtfully. "He didn't have a horse."
"How do you know?" his wife inquired.
"Because none of ours is missing, and he had no horse when he came here."
"Then if he's afoot it ought to be easy to run him down," declared Andy.
"If we can pick up his trail," spoke Mr. Thornton. "Well, boys, are you ready?"
"We sure are!" exclaimed Frank. He and his brother would have gone without breakfast for the sake of taking part in the chase.
The cowboys and others had been saddling their horses, looking to girths, lariats and stirrups, and to their guns.
"I'd like to get a chance to rope the fellow!" exclaimed Archie, vindictively. "He won't get away once I get my rope on him," and he swung the lariat around his head.
"Scatter, boys, and look for signs," commanded the owner of Double X ranch. "He may have headed for town, or he may be going to cross the line and get into Colorado. If he gets among the mountains we might as well give up."
The men, experienced at reading signs on the ground where a tenderfoot could see nothing, were soon looking to pick up the trail of the missing man. They scattered about, and, because of the fact of the rain, it was easier than otherwise to notice marks in the soil.