“I can’t be quite certain,” said I. “You can’t very well identify a man by the back of his neck, especially when he has his collar turned up; but the number of loose horses is the same, and if the rider on the black horse isn’t Bates I’m very much mistaken.”
“What are they doing here now?” asked Percy. “I supposed they would have been far ahead of us by this time.”
“Perhaps they have been hiding in that secret place the gentleman spoke of,” Jack replied. “Or perhaps the horses were worn out and they have been resting them up in some high part of the mountains where they could keep a good lookout for anyone coming after them. They seem to be in a good deal of a hurry at present, anyhow; which is just as well, for they will make twenty miles to our ten, and if they are bound for Bozeman—though I should hardly think they would go there—they will keep well ahead of us at that pace. It won’t do to trust to that, though. I think we must set a guard at night for the rest of the distance; especially as they might even reach their destination, turn round again, and meet us on their way back, if they should return this way. And that, I think, is rather probable; for all those horses and mules of the survey-party must be a great temptation to gentlemen in their way of business.”
This decision of the commander-in-chief met with our cordial approval, and for the next few days we moved cautiously forward, keeping a sharp lookout by day, and setting a guard at night. And a most unpleasant duty did we find it, after a long day’s march, to stand guard through the hours of darkness, when, by rights, we should have been asleep; for, there being only three of us, and the nights being divided into two watches of four hours each, we could each secure but one clear night’s rest out of three—a great hardship to youngsters of our age.
It will be readily understood, therefore, that we had no spare blessings to bestow upon Squeaky for putting us to all this extra trouble, and that it was with much pleasure we went into camp one evening, believing that two more days’ march, and consequently only one more night of guard-mounting, would bring us to our destination.
We had unsaddled and turned loose the horses and mules that evening as usual; Percy was on his knees, making the fire; Jack, followed by Ulysses, had gone off to the creek for a bucket of water; I was in the act of stooping to pick up my rifle preparatory to making a tour of our camping-ground,—for it was my first watch that night,—when a voice behind me said in a low but peremptory tone:
“Drop that!”
I looked round sharply to find, pointed square at my chest, the muzzle of a rifle in the hands of a squat, red-haired man; while another taller man was covering Percy. That their intentions were evil it was easy to guess, for each of them was disguised by wearing a strip of rag across the upper part of his face, having holes cut in it to look through.
“Come here!” said the short man in a low voice. “Quick! Both of you.”
We advanced towards him.