With a broad grin suffusing his face, the driver cried:
"Whoa!"
As the horses stopped Mr. Wilder, fearing that the boy had been made the butt of some mad prank, said severely:
"If anything happened to that lad, I shall hold you responsible,
Ned. Where is he?"
"Gone with his brother Chris."
"His brother!" cried Tom. "Did his brother come back?"
"He did—yesterday. Hans found him, and such a meeting nobody ever see before. The brother is going to another town and Hans with him. They started to-day."
The knowledge that Hans had found his brother was a great relief to
Tom and Larry, and they lost no time in saying so.
"If you feel that way, then it surely is all right," declared the ranchman. "We're going into the hills for a few days hunting, Ned. If you need me, you'll find me somewhere on the 'Lost Lode' trail."
"With them tenderfeet?" inquired the handy man, eyeing Tom and
Larry doubtfully.