in a way. He's a well-educated fellow, so I've been told, and
not as brutal as some. But he's committed some robberies that have no
equal in the history of these parts. Once he painted himself as an
Indian and went to the agency, and there collected a lot of money which
was coming to the redskins, the agent taking him for Chief Snowbird of
the Modocs. The trick wasn't discovered until three days later, when the
real Snowbird turned up. Even then it wasn't known who did the trick."

"And how was Gilroy found out?"

"A fellow named Downes, who belonged to the gang, was captured, and he
gave the secret away. But it cost Downes his life, for he got away from
the soldiers, and while he was in the mountains some of his gang shot
and killed him."

At this story both Joe and Darry shuddered.

"What a lawless set!" muttered Joe. "One could hardly believe it unless
he saw it with his own eyes."

"In a rough country the men are bound to be more or less rough, lad.
Look at California, for instance. To-day it's as quiet and orderly as
Massachusetts or Illinois. But in the days of '49 it wasn't that way.
Many a miner was held up for his gold dust, and many a miner's secret of
a rich find was stolen from him and the miner himself murdered."

"And how long do you think it will take to make this territory perfectly
safe?"

"There aint no telling about that, but probably when you are as old as I
am now you'll be able to travel anywhere without fear of being stopped.
The railroads are a-coming in, towns are building up, and one of these
days the desperadoes and stage-coach robbers will all be a thing of the
past--and a good job done."

The third horse had been found, and now Joe was riding in his own
saddle. The rain of the night before had made the trail dustless, and
the air was as pure and sweet as one could wish.

By noon they calculated that they had covered ten miles of the worst
portion of the distance to the fort. The ride had been a strain to Joe,
and when old Benson called a halt he was glad enough to slip to the
ground and throw himself in the shade of a tree to rest. Darry and the
old scout lit a fire, and soon had a nice steak preparing for dinner.

"He's asleep," said Darry, a little later, pointing to Joe. "Poor
fellow! supposing we let him rest for a couple of hours? I haven't the
heart to wake him up."

"All right," answered Benson. The pair ate their dinner without arousing
Joe, and after it was over the sco