Chet remembered that Steve had spoken of having hard work swimming his pony ashore from the island, and he believed this must be the place for which they had been searching.
“We’ll halt here, boy,” he said to Dig. “There’s some greasewood up there. You make the fire and I’ll hobble the nags. The water must be very shallow on the other side of this island. Those thieves rode easily out to it from the east bank of the river, and then had to swim their ponies over here.”
“Sure!” agreed Dig.
“It was somewhere along here Steve thinks he dropped the packet of papers he stole from me. Keep your eyes open.”
“You bet you!” exclaimed his chum, going to work at once to make a fire under the shelter of the bank.
They had their welcome supper as soon as it could be cooked, and then Dig took the first watch. He patrolled the camp on the bank overlooking it, so that he might see all about upon the plain. Their enemies must come from this direction.
The men, however, did not appear during Dig’s watch. The boys had travelled very rapidly, and the sorry beasts ridden by Steve and Tony could not have brought them very fast on the trail to the river.
Chet, however, spied them before dawn. The stars were just beginning to pale when two hazy figures loomed out of a distant thicket, and the boy made them out to be two mounted men. He soon heard them talking, too, for the sound of voices carried far in the damp air.
The boy was excited; but he felt that he had the situation well in hand. He awoke Dig, and ordered him to keep quiet until the men rode nearer. Then the chums stepped out upon the bank boldly and hailed the travellers.
“We’re here first, you fellows,” Chet said. “And we have located a claim all up and down this creek. Don’t come any nearer, for if you do I shall shoot your ponies—and I’m sure you don’t want to be left afoot out here in the open.”