lied Rathburn.

They descended the ridge and entered the long, sloping valley, so wide
that it virtually was a plain. They made good headway, although they
favored their horses. They took advantage of the shelter provided by
the occasional clumps of pines. The afternoon was drawing to a close
with the sun dipping sharply toward the western hills when they came
in sight of the entrance to the canyon. But with the first glimpse they
checked their horses and turned into the shelter of some trees near
by.

"Beat us to it!" exclaimed Percy.

"Four of 'em," said Rathburn, frowning. "Brown ain't taking any
chances. He's a better man than I figured him out. An' there's more of
'em!"

He pointed westward where two riders were barely discernible on the
crest of a ridge. They disappeared almost immediately in the timber
below.

"We'll turn back," Rathburn decided. "We'll ride with the trees
between us an' the men up at the canyon, an' keep an eye out for the
pair to the west. You might watch that side, an' I'll look out for the
east an' south. C'mon, let's drift."

The face of the man who called himself Percy was white and strained as
they urged their tired mounts southward. They skirted the western end
of the ridge by which they had gained the wide valley and continued
on, carefully scanning the landscape in all directions for indications
of pursuit. It was plain to them that they had been seen to leave the
east trail early that morning. Brown and his men undoubtedly knew they
had headed north, and the justice had immediately dispatched men to
guard the entrance to the canyon trail into the mountains. Then they
had begun a systematic search of the locality.

This deduction was strengthened when Rathburn suddenly pointed toward
the east. More riders were to be seen on the slope of the valley's
side in that direction. Even as they looked, these riders, too,
disappeared from view as they dropped down behind a rise of ground.

The sun was going down fast. Already the red banners of the sunset
were flaunted in the high western skies. The twilight would be upon
them apace--the long-lasting, purple-veiled twilight of the altitudes.
Then the night would close down with its canopy of stars.

Rathburn looked speculatively at his companion. "We'll make a break
for that clump of trees about a quarter of a mile ahead with all our
horses have got left," he said, driving in his spurs.

In a last mad dash which taxed every iota of s