“Hello, girls,” called one of these men, “tell me, ain’t ye seen an Indian goin’ this way? Must of passed here about sun-up this morning.”
“We see many Indians,” replied Ramona. “But we have seen none pass here this morning. What do you want with an Indian?”
“Never mind what we want,” returned the man, grinning at his companions. “He’ll find that out when we get him. Ain’t seen him, hey? How long have you been out here?”
“We have been watching the shepherds driving in the sheep from the meadows since dawn, and now we are on our way home through the orange orchard. If he had passed here we should have seen him, I think.”
“Look here, he’s a hoss-thief,” interrupted another of the men, “and we don’t want any foolin’ about this. He must have come this way—there ain’t no other.”
“Go on, then, and find him,” said Ramona, calmly. “But are you so sure there is no other way?”
Beckoning to Rose and Ruth, she made as though to go on.
“Hold on,” said the first man. “Is there another way? And where the h—— is it?”
Ramona gave him a scornful glance, ably seconded by her two young friends. The girls’ hearts were thumping, but they never quivered, and continued to walk on toward the ranch.
But the man wheeled his horse so that it blocked their way.