It was a significant sound. They had heard it too many times before not to understand it. In their minds they could see the hardy cowboys riding in front of the unreasoning animals, shooting into the ground in front of them, seeking to check the rush.
"What do you think about this business?" asked Tad Butler, drawing up beside Ned Rector.
"I think there is more in this spook story than Colonel McClure knows of, or, at least, will admit."
"So do I," answered Tad.
"We'll know when we hear how it happened."
Tad remembered, at that moment, the hasty departure of Ruth Brayton.
"I wonder—I wonder," muttered the boy to himself.