"Wall, I guess we might's well get back ter camp. 'Tain't much use huntin' round here in the dark."
Bob breathed a deep sigh of relief as he heard the men move off in the darkness. For some time he could hear them talking and shouting as they called to others of the gang. Gradually their voices grew fainter and soon all was still and he deemed it safe to descend. But when he reached the ground he found that he had entirely lost his sense of direction and had not the slightest idea as to which way to go.
"Guess the safest thing will be to stay right here till morning," he concluded after thinking the matter over for some time. "If I start out I'll be just as apt to blunder into their camp again as I am to find that trail."
A glance at the luminous face of his watch told him that it was nearly ten o'clock. The sky had clouded over and it was steadily growing colder, but he was dressed fairly warm in his woolen shirt and knew there was little danger of catching cold.
"I don't knew whether to chance it on the ground or to roost up in that tree," he thought as he groped about on the ground to find a soft spot. Finally he found a place about twenty feet from the tree which he had climbed which was thick with dry moss and decided to risk it. His foot was giving him considerable pain and he quickly pulled off his shoe and stocking and felt of the ankle. It was pretty sore and he judged that it was swollen slightly, but he was thankful that it was no worse. For some time the ache in his ankle kept him awake but finally wearied nature asserted itself and he slept.
CHAPTER VII.
BOB MAKES A CONVERT.
It was about five o'clock when Sue and Jack reached the ranch. Jeb was on the porch as they drove up.
"Where's Bob?" he asked.
Sue told him what had happened and he listened until she had finished the frown on his face getting deeper and deeper.