“Daid shore, Boss.”
“Then where is he?” demanded the rancher with a rising inflection in his voice.
Two-gun Pete shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair.
“I reckon somethin’ has happened to thet feller,” he observed solemnly.
Tom Gray ran to the door and shouted for Jim-Sam.
“We will start the guides out at once. Something has gone wrong with Chunky, that’s certain, but if anyone can find him Jim-Sam can,” he said.
“I’ll send Pete and a couple of the others with them,” announced the rancher, who was more disturbed than he cared to have the Overland Riders see. “Pete! You know what to do. Get the boy, that’s all.”
Jim-Sam were entering the ranch-house when Idaho burst in, thrusting the guides aside at the door.
“Boss! They’ve gone!” yelled Idaho.
“Gone? Who’s gone?”