“Yes, we beat him to it,” replied Carl. “And here’s another reason,” the boy went on, “why we think the outlaws have not yet communicated with the messenger sent on from the east.
“If Phillips had known all the messenger will be able to tell him when they meet, he never would have shown himself to you.”
“Jiminy!” exclaimed Kit. “Then I’d be up in that bear tree yet!”
“You might be!” grinned Carl. “Anyhow, you did a good job in locating the outlaws for us. We know now that they’re in this section, and that is a whole lot.”
“Then we must be somewhere near Two Sisters canyon?” asked Kit.
Carl replied that he believed that they must be, and Kit tumbled back into the shelter-tent in a more cheerful frame of mind.
“There’s one thing about this situation that I’m not at all pleased with,” Ben remarked, as the boys began working over their machines, oiling, polishing and giving them a more respectable appearance generally. “We saw this third machine cross the range and settle down somewhere off to the south. My idea is that it can’t be very far away at this time, and I’m wondering whether the outlaw who talked with Kit won’t find it before night.”
“You bet he will!” exclaimed Jimmie. “That blond aviator who tried to blow up our machines will find some way of letting the murderers know that he has news for them.”
“Then why don’t we go and drive this blond aviator away?” asked Carl.
“I’d like to know how we can do that?” asked Jimmie.