to the north. Then they set out, following the
direction taken by the Indians, riding briskly,
keyed up to energy through hope of encounter,
although Stephen suffered not a little from the
jolting of his arm. Dropping down from the hills,
they swung out upon the mesa, and thence made
into the south along a winding trail. Ordinarily
they would have lingered to accept the strained
hospitality of the settlement. But this was duty,
duty large and grave, and, conscious of it all, they
pressed forward in silence. The renegades' tracks
stood out clearly, and the rangers noted that some
of the horses were shod, others only half shod,
while the greater number were without shoes at
all. This told of the marauders' nondescript collection
of mounts, and also acquainted them with
the fact that many of the animals had been stolen.
On through the afternoon they rode, making but
little gain, since the tracks became no fresher.
When darkness fell, though still in the open without
protection of any kind save that offered by a
slight rise of ground, they dismounted and prepared
to make camp.

Throughout the afternoon Pat had felt something
of the grim nature of this business. This
not only because of the severe crowding which he
had endured -- though that had told him much -- ?
but because of the unwonted silence upon the
men. So he had held himself keenly to the stride,
rather liking its vigor after long days of walking,
finding himself especially fit to meet it after his
recent change of food. And although the sun

[[234]]

p233 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p234w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p235

v?