Lefty made no reply as he followed Jim up the trail, but he studied the man intently.
Connie had not heard the talk between the two cowboys. She greeted Jim warmly.
“What happened to you, Miss Connie?” he asked in astonishment, observing her bedraggled appearance.
“Oh, we had a little accident,” she answered vaguely. “We’re certainly grateful to you, Jim, for bringing our horses.”
The man dismounted and helped the school teachers into the saddle. Unnoticed by all save Connie, a blue bandanna handkerchief dropped from his pocket. She thought that he would pick it up, but after the other members of the party had started down the trail, he rode after them, leaving the handkerchief lying on the ground.
As Connie rode past the spot, she reached low and swept it up. She would not have given it a second glance save that it reminded her of the handkerchief which the masked bandit had worn the night he robbed her of her rodeo earnings.
There was nothing unusual about a blue bandanna, however, for many cowboys carried them. Yet as Connie folded the bit of cloth she noticed that two initials had been stamped in one corner. But they were not the letters which the girl might have expected to see.
“‘J. R.’,” she mused, “that doesn’t seem right. Jim’s last name doesn’t begin with an ‘R.’”
Connie carefully examined the letters again to make certain that she had not mistaken a “B” for an “R.”
“It’s an ‘R’ all right,” she decided. “Why should Jim be carrying a handkerchief marked like this unless he’s passing under an assumed name?”