Reaching a point where he could look down into the valley below, Dave peered long and earnestly for a sight of a riderless horse. To his delight he saw the animal almost at once.
"Well, you didn't run far," he murmured, "and if you don't get a tantrum, and gallop off when I come up, I'll soon have you."
Going back to where he had left Mr. Bellmore, Dave reported:
"Your horse is down in the valley. I'll jump on mine and try to catch him for you. If I can, we'll not have any trouble, and I'll soon have you at our ranch."
"Thanks," murmured the representative of the water company. "His name is Kurd," he added. "My horse's, I mean," he explained, with a smile. "He generally comes when I call him, but here are some lumps of sugar I give him. He'll be sure to come if you hold these out to him."
Dave took the sweets, which Mr. Bellmore extracted from his pocket, and hurried back to where he had left Crow. A moment later Dave was moving off down the trail toward the valley.
"Careful, old boy," he cautioned his steed, for the going was anything but good. "It won't do for you to slip and stumble now."
But Crow had no intention of doing anything of the sort, and a little later Dave was galloping rapidly—across the grassy plain toward the lone horse.
"I hope he doesn't bolt and give me a chase," reflected the young cowboy.
"I haven't much time," and he looked at the declining sun, and thought of
Pocus Pete on guard at the corral, waiting for help to mend the broken
fence.
"It's all Len's fault, too—the mean skunk!" said Dave. "If it hadn't been for him the cattle wouldn't have gotten loose. Though I suppose if they hadn't I wouldn't have ridden home this way, and I wouldn't have discovered that man. Maybe it'll be a good thing, in the end."