Suddenly a voice close at hand struck in. It was one of the cow-punchers shouting to another.
"Remember the last stampede, when Grizzly Sam was trampled?"
"You bet I do. His pony's foot stuck in a gopher hole, and the whole stampede came lambasting on top of him."
The boys began to look rather serious. Apparently they were off on a more dangerous errand than they had bargained for. It was too late to draw out now, however, and, anyhow, not one of them would, for this would have shown "the white feather."
"Did you give the alarm to the rest of the boys?" asked Rob of Harry, after an interval of silence among the boys.
"Yes. I only had time to call Simmons's place, but they'll get the others. Simmons's place is not far from the Graveyard Cliffs, and the boys will be there ahead of us, likely."
"How about the others?"
"They have to come from greater distances. They may not arrive till it's all over."
It was impossible to see any of their surroundings in the thick cloud of dust. All about them, as far as the eye could penetrate the dense smother, were straining ponies and shouting cowboys.
"How can we tell when we get to the place?" asked Tubby.