"Just below the shoulder. I don't think it went through the lung, but I'm not sure."
"Where is he?"
"Down by the spring. I thought it best not to try to bring him in on horseback, so we came in for the buckboard. Slim is with him and he ain't bleeding nothing to speak of."
"But the rustlers?" Sue asked.
"They got away with about twenty-five head, I reckon. Had 'em cut out before we got there."
"But couldn't you follow them?" Bob asked.
"Sure, we did as far as the woods. You see," he went on to explain, "we knew it would be plum suicide to follow them into the forest."
"Why?" Jack asked as he paused.
"Because the man who is being followed always has the big advantage in the darkness, as he pretty well knows where the other fellow is and all he has to do is to wait for him to get up close enough and then pot him, and I don't risk human life for a few cattle. But, believe me, we ain't done with that gang, not by a long shot."
Bob was about to ask another question, but just then the two men, who had returned with Jeb, drove up with the buckboard.