Park Reber did not lead his men straight for the Two Bar X, but took the left-hand road and headed for the Circle S, where he decided to pick up Jim Carlin and his men. He intended sending one man from there to the Lightning to get the assistance of Nort Jackson and his crew. Reber was going to have enough men to comb every inch of the country.
It was nearing daylight when they rode into the Circle S. The ranch was deserted.
“Mebbe they’re chasin’ rustlers already,” said one of the men.
“More likely out doin’ a little rustlin’,” said Buck Priest grimly. His face was the color of ashes, his left leg dangling uselessly from outside the stirrup. The old man was living on his nerve now. Park Reber scowled at him, but said nothing in reply to Priest’s sarcasm.
“Shall we go to the Lightnin’?” asked a cowboy.
“No,” said Reber shortly, and headed for the Two Bar X.
The men were tired, sleepy, hungry; they were willing to go anywhere to stop for a while. They did not go back to the road, but cut across the hills. Daylight came swiftly, and the sun was painting the tops of the hills when they struck the road about a mile below the Two Bar X.
And here the road was a mass of cow tracks. Reber leaned forward in his saddle, pointing at them.
“The trail of the rustlers,” he said. “They’re headin’ for the West Fork pass.”