After a bit the boys dropped down on all fours, and started to crawl along, since in the bright moonlight it was growing risky to stand erect. Billie had some difficulty in flattening himself as much as he thought necessary; indeed, it seemed to his excited fancy that he must be towering there in a most discouraging way; and he feared that one of the others in glancing back would notice it, and tell him he must diminish his size or else drop out.
But as the ground was broken, and growing rougher every rod or so, neither Donald nor Adrian thought anything of this; and Billie was certainly making a good job of his “creep,” they could see, all things considered.
Of course the two would have preferred attempting the business by themselves; but they knew that the fat chum would object to being left out, and in fact absolutely refuse to play so unimportant a part in the proceedings.
And if it did come to a showing of hands they might be glad to have a third member of the party along, so as to overawe the foe by sheer force of
numbers. Besides, Billie carried a rifle, and knew how to use it too; he had demonstrated that fact to the satisfaction of his chums more than once; so that he could not be wholly ignored on such grounds.
They were by now close enough to the fire to be able to see the figures around the blaze. Of course it was only natural for Donald to give Adrian a sly punch in the side, and putting his lips close to the other’s ear whisper triumphantly the one word:
“Four!”
And Adrian on his part understood, for he must surely remember that the other had taken the pains to declare it to be his opinion that the rustler crowd could not number more than that many.
Still four husky men would seem like a pretty steep proposition for three half-grown boys to attempt to subdue; and such indeed would have been the case had it been the intention of Adrian and his chums to boldly face the rustlers, and put the decision to a test of sheer muscle, or the ability to shoot straight.
But Donald and his comrades believed they knew a way whereby the odds were apt to turn in their favor. Strategy must take the place of brute force. They would remain there in hiding until it was to be seen how things were going to turn; and if the rustlers either drank heavily, or else allowed sleep to overpower them.