"Darned if I know—ain't he there?" Bert answered, riding up so he could look into the door.
"Look around a little," Chuck said anxiously. "Maybe he's just stepped away for a minute—Hey!" he called to an attendant of a stall a short distance down the stable street, "have you seen anything of th' Ramblin' Kid—the feller that has these horses?"
"Naw," was the careless answer, "I ain't seen him for two hours."
"Something must be wrong!" Chuck exclaimed. "You stay here and watch!
I'll go see Old Heck—maybe he knows where he is."
"Hell, yes!" Bert said as the other started Silver Tip in a run toward where the Clagstone "Six" was parked. "He's got to be found! Nobody else but him can ride the maverick!"
At the car, before his horse was fairly stopped, Chuck leaned over and asked, tensely:
"Have any of you people seen th' Ramblin' Kid?"
Old Heck straightened up.
"Ain't he at the stables?" he inquired uneasily. "He was there this morning—"
"No," Chuck replied hurriedly, "he's been gone two hours!"