"You mean the sheriff?"
"Sure."
"He plays the part, all right."
As soon as they were away from the house they turned toward the north and the sheriff set a rapid pace. Sue had pointed out to them a narrow cleft in the hills in the direction they were heading and had explained that it was called "the Crotch," and for nearly two hours they kept on, stopping only once to allow the horses a short breathing spell. They reached the entrance to The Crotch shortly after noon and there they halted while those who had brought a lunch ate it and also to allow the horses a short time to graze.
"What makes you think he's up this way, Skeets?" Jeb asked the sheriff as the latter came up where he and the two boys were sitting.
"Well, I'll tell yer. Yer see one of the Halliday boys was in ter town yesterday an' he said that as he was coming through The Crotch he heard a powerful lot of shoutin' an' it sounded 's though thar was a lot of cattle not far off. So I figger that Hains must have his place whar he rebrands up this way somewhere."
He passed on and Jeb laughed. "That's always the way with him. Always has plenty of dope and sometimes a hunch. Funny he didn't say anything about a hunch. But that's all it amounts to. I'll bet a five dollar gold piece against a lead nickel that Hains ain't within twenty miles of here and, the worst of it is, I'm afraid that he knows it. I hate like blazes to think it of Skeets but I can't help it."
"Now, boys," the sheriff was standing on a large rock so that all could see him. "I've got a hunch that Hains' place is somewhere not far from here and that the trail ter it branches off from The Crotch. Now my idea is ter ride along slow like an' examine every bit of the way. He can't drive a big lot of cattle off the main trail an' not leave no marks, that's sartin, and we can't help findin' 'em if we look sharp enough."
"Got a magnifying glass, Skeets?" someone called out.
"What you want a magnifying glass fer?" the sheriff snapped.