“Then we’d better go after it. It probably belongs to no one.”
“I’m not sure of that. Others may have a juster claim than we have, Professor.”
“You suspect something, Tad, without knowing fully. We’ll look at the place and decide what to do later.”
The others were in bed, but still awake when Tad left the Professor’s tent, but to their questions he gave evasive answers.
204It seemed to Tad that he had been asleep but a few minutes when he felt a touch on his shoulder. He sat up, instantly wide awake. Anvik was bending over him.
“Somebody come,” muttered the guide. “One, two, three, four, maybe more.”
Day was just breaking. Tad awakened his companions, giving each instructions as to what he was to do. Then he hurried to the Professor’s tent to give Anvik’s news.
“Look out!” yelled Stacy shrilly.
A series of quick, sharp reports punctured the stillness of the morning. Tad and Professor Zepplin dashed out, and so did Walter Perkins. Ned Rector and Stacy Brown were nowhere to be seen. Anvik stood against a rock, his blanket drawn about him, the muzzle of a rifle protruding from the lower end of it.
Four men appeared in the open, each holding a rifle. The rifles were aimed at the members of the Pony Rider outfit.