CHAPTER XIV
The Round-Up
The remainder of the journey was made in silence, and without further mishap. The thick of the crude trail was left behind and they got on to the well-beaten highway, trudging along at a fast gait until they came to the Snake Loop with its two roads––one leading for a mile or so along the lower shore line; the other running round Big Horn Hills.
Jim stopped at the forks.
“Say!––I’m thinking three of us had better go by one way and four of us by the other;––just in case of accidents.
“McLean, Phil and I can go the low way. You four go by the high road. We can wait for each other at the junction further on.”
The crowd split up and parted.
Jim, Phil and McLean had only got along about half a mile, when they stopped up at the sound of the fast beating of horse hoofs on the highway behind them.