"Why, don't you think he'll come back!" interrupted Pick.

"It wouldn't surprise me if he didn't," Bud answered. "There are
some queer things going on around here, and he may be one of 'em.
Though I haven't any reason to suspect him--yet!" he quickly
added.

"What are we going to do!" asked Dick, as he saw his cousin
slacking his pony's pace. "Shall we go on to the end of the
rustler's trail, or follow Four Eyes."

"Neither one," answered Bud. "At least not just yet," he added,
as he saw Nort and Dick look at him curiously. "Let Four Eyes go,
for the time being. He may have seen some cowboys he'd like to
interview about this fire, and be after them. Or he may not. As
for getting on the trail of the rustlers, we'd have to ride back
quite a distance to do that, and it would be dark when we picked
it up again. Too late to do anything."

"Are we going back to camp?" asked Dick.

"No, let's stay right here. We've got grub, and water isn't so
far off. We'll just camp out for the night."

"Suits me," assented Dick.

"Same here," agreed Nort.

It was something the boys had often done. They carried blankets