"Here are horse
tracks, too, only most of the hoofprints are made by cattle."
"Oh, you can't tell a cow from a pony print," taunted Horace.
"Come over and see for yourself," retorted Tom.
Examination proving that he was right, his friend exclaimed:
"That was made by the boys coming up."
"But the tracks are all going toward the mountains. They certainly
wouldn't drive any cattle away with them. You don't--you don't
suppose it's another raid, do you?" and Tom glanced at Ned.
"Yes."
CHAPTER XV
THE CONTESTED TRAIL
The thought that the cattle thieves should have dared to make still
another raid on the very night when the outfits of the Half-Moon
and Three Stars ranches had set out to run them to cover was so
startling that for several minutes after Tom had suggested it no
one spoke.
Larry was the first one to recover from the shock of surprise.
"There's no use in trying to guess," he declared. "We must find
out. The only way to do that, so far as I can see, is to follow
the trail and discover where it leads."
This proposition received the excited endorsement of the other two
boys, and Horace added:
"Wouldn't it be dandy if we could round up Megget and his men
before father and the others? Come on!"
"Don't be in too much of a hurry," urged Tom.
"Oh, if you are afraid to go, you needn't. I'll go alone," sneered
Horace.
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