What madness to think that Natachee could ever find them in that seemingly infinite space.
THE trail, left by Sonora Jack, led Edwards and Natachee down the creek and out of the cañon by the old road. But a mile or two beyond the crossing, the outlaw had left the road for a course more to the west through the foothills. And here, in the soft ground where there were no other tracks, the marks of the horse’s iron-shod feet were very clear, even to the white man. But when Edwards would have urged his mount forward, the Indian checked him.
“There are many miles of desert ahead of us, my friend,” said Natachee. “I must not permit your impatience to rob us of our horses before our journey is half finished.”
Reluctantly Edwards restrained himself, and the Indian, riding a little in advance, set the pace.
They had not gone far when Natachee pulled up his horse, and springing from his saddle, held up his hand for his companion to stop.
“What is it?” asked Edwards. “What is the matter?”
The Indian, who was moving here and there as he studied the ground, did not answer until he was apparently satisfied with his examination of the tracks.
As he came back to his waiting horse, he said:
“They stopped here and the men dismounted to tighten the cinches. I was right about the Lizard. Those tracks there are his, and there are the tracks of his horse. Sonora Jack and his horse are over there. When the men had attended to their saddles, the Lizard went to look after the pack mule over there, while Jack went to the horse that stood there, which must have been the pinto. Now that we have identified the horses with their riders, we can follow the movements of each in case they should separate—unless, of course, they should change horses.”
Again the Indian was in his saddle and they went on. At times they rode at a fast walk, again their sturdy mounts put mile after mile behind them with the easy swinging lope of the cow horse. Occasionally Natachee reined in his mount and, bending low from the saddle, studied the trail carefully, but he never hesitated for more than a moment or two.