With Gun ^ Rod in Canada 



beneath the starlight. The Captain lay there thinking 

 what a rich reward he would get for this day's work. 

 He had surely caught the robbers now, and that meant 

 reward — money and perhaps promotion. 



He fell asleep with very pleasant thoughts running 

 through his head. 



At twelve o'clock and three the watch was relieved, 

 and all was reported quiet. 



It was daylight before the Captain cared to get ready 

 to go and make his capture. It was sun-up before he 

 walked, carbine in hand, into the mouth of the Hole. 

 His men were at his heels. 



In the centre of the smooth grass-covered bottom of 

 the Hole were five horses quietly grazing. Three were 

 Government horses, as their equipment showed; the other 

 two were mountain-trained thoroughbreds. There were 

 neither camp nor men in sight. The Captain sent his 

 squad spreading out around the Hole in all directions, 

 looking behind the few cedars and boulders, but the 

 robbers were not there. He was puzzled and sent men 

 to look for tracks. There were a few footprints near 

 the centre of the Hole, but that was all. The sides 

 of the Hole went straight up. The only trail was the 

 way the soldiers came in. 



The Captain sent men around to look for tracks on the 

 mesa above. There were no tracks there. Then he 

 made a diligent search for a cave or pit of any description, 

 without success. 



The only things of unusual interest in the Hole were 

 three stout iron ring-bolts cemented into the sides of as 

 many big boulders. Our friends had successfully con- 

 cealed all other traces of their mysterious disappearance. 



" The birds must have flown," quoth the chagrined 

 Captain, and he took the trail for the Post to report his 

 story of the mysterious escape. His account was listened 



198 



