"Then what shall we do?" he asked. "If you have any better plan to
suggest, out with it."
Tom, however, could think of nothing feasible and was silent.
The boys had pulled their ponies down to a walk and for several
minutes none of them spoke.
Of a sudden Blackhawk raised his head, sniffed the air and then
uttered a low whinny.
The sound, coming so unexpectedly, scared the lads, and they looked
at one another in alarm.
"He smells something," exclaimed Horace in a whisper, as though
fearing to speak out loud.
The boys were in the lowland between two crests of the rolling
plains.
"Perhaps it's the cattle. They may be on the other side of that
rise in the plains," returned Larry.
Anxiously the three boys gazed toward the crest. The thought that
they might be close upon the very men they were chasing startled
them, and they were at a loss as to the best thing to do.
"If it is the raiders and the cattle Blackhawk scented, then
they'll be on the lookout for us," murmured Tom. "They could hear
that whinny for----"
"By jove! it is they," cried Larry excitedly. "See those horses'
ears bobbing?" And he pointed to the south.
Following his finger, his companions beheld two sharp points
steadily advancing from the farther side of the crest.
"Be ready to give it to 'em," breathed Horace, at the same time
unslinging his rifle.
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