i2 4 WAITING IN THE WILDERNESS 



no telltale tracks would be left. Then, a short 

 distance beyond, he tried one of his cleverest 

 schemes. He crossed a rocky stream at a place 

 so rough that the trailers did not follow in his 

 tracks but crossed a little below. On the other 

 side they found themselves in a grassy space of 

 a few acres. Here they discovered the tracks of 

 two wandering horses that apparently had been 

 grazing. 



"Has this fellow been joined by reinforce- 

 ments?" asked the cowboy. 



The foreman turned to the left and examined 

 the farther edge of the grassy place to see if a 

 single line of tracks showed in that direction. 

 None were found. Moore swung out of the 

 saddle, tossed the bridle reins over his horse's 

 head, and, leaving the animal to graze, examined 

 first one line of tracks then the other. He fol- 

 lowed these through the grassy space, beyond 

 which they bore off to the right and crossed the 

 stream. 



Moore went downstream to the point where 

 the thief had crossed in entering the grassy space. 

 After standing here for a moment he followed 

 the stream back to the place where the two graz- 

 ing horses had crossed. He followed these 

 trails a short distance up the hillside and then 

 went back where they crossed the stream. He 

 was exploring upstream when the foreman and 



