"And you came out of it luckier than lots of 'em," added the foreman. "Red Pepper sure is a bad one!"
"Oh, shucks!" laughed Snake. "That jest gave me an appetite."
And, really, it seemed to. But perhaps Snake was hungry, anyhow.
After the meal there was a general talk about the raid of the rustlers. And then as the cowboys sat about in the evening they indulged in various forms of sport and fun, in which the boy ranchers joined.
Bright and early those who were to take the trail after the cattle thieves were on their way, taking with them enough food to last for several days. They were now better prepared than when they had first started out from Diamond X.
It was comparatively easy to pick up the trail left by the rustlers and soon our friends were riding after them, though of course several hours behind them. But as had been said, the ground was of a nature that did not lend itself well to haste, and if the thieves stampeded their animals they would, very likely, lose them. They could only go so fast and Billee and his cowboys hoped soon to come up to the raiders.
It was nearly noon when one of the cowboys who was riding on ahead, came to a stop on a little rise of land and, shading his eyes from the sun, looked long and earnestly off to his left.
"See anything?" asked Bud, who with his cousins rode up.
"I think so, but I'm not sure," was the reply. "But doesn't it look like a bunch of cattle there?" and he pointed.
The boy ranchers gazed earnestly.