Nick Apthorp, proud of a double victory, turned in numbers three and one as Phil Abercrombie and Lew Ashwood, who were caught in trees, while Matt Branson said his man was Paul Corbett and that he was number seven.
All the reporting Coyotes took the field again and no other searcher reported until eleven thirty. About that time Buck Bluett came in out of breath with his second claim. Number eight, he affirmed, was Davy Cooke whom he insisted he had chased from under a road culvert. After that, as the minutes passed, Wolf stock began to go up. Three Wolf “hide outs” had not yet been reported. Yet, if the claims were found to agree with the umpires’ list of numbers, seven captures had been made, a number that would require hard and fast work to beat.
The unannounced boys were Arthur Trevor, Colly Craighead and Alex Conyers. As twelve o’clock approached, the umpires moved out into the road, ready to accept any claim up to the last minute. One after another the searching scouts trotted back into camp according to the rules. And, as each appeared with no new claim, a shout arose from the Wolf adherents. Nine of the Coyote pursuers had registered “in” and the umpires were about to declare the first half of the game over when an exhausted yell was heard down the river:
“Colly Craighead is number six,” cried Pete Chester. “Down under the Little Green River bridge.”
“Twelve o’clock,” announced Professor Souter.
“And two out,” yelled the friends of the Wolves.
The Wolves had a margin of thirty minutes in which to report back into Camp. But the twelve o’clock had scarcely been announced when Willie Bonner was seen hastening into camp.
“How many out?” he called anxiously.
“Two,” responded some one. “Trevor and Conyers.”