nkful that his slope was in shadow.

Taking it for granted that some one was watching the valley, he studied
the spot where the glitter had already winked out--possibly because the
man had moved the field glasses, sweeping the valley. It was a good
place for a spy, Johnny admitted. There was a slight ridge just there,
so that the view was clear for some distance in either direction;
Mateo's cabin was in plain sight, and the surrounding hills. He hoped
the fellow would see nothing suspicious and would presently give up
that post; in the meantime he was effectually treed. There was no
shelter that he dared trust on the first rocky half of the descent, and
to climb up and over the peak he would surely reveal himself, unless
the fellow's attention happened to be centered on something else.

Johnny studied his predicament. The man could see everything--but
could he hear? He was half a mile off, Johnny judged, estimating the
distance with an accuracy born of long living in the country of far
skylines. The spy would need sharp ears indeed to hear anything less
than a shout.

Johnny picked up a pebble, aimed, and threw it at the roof of Mateo's
cabin. The pebble landed true and rattled off, hitting the ground with
a bounce and rolling away in the grass. The children, playing in the
open as they always did, stopped and looked up inquiringly, then went
on with their play. Mateo came cautiously from the back door and to
him Johnny called, thankful that the observer on the hillside could not
see through the cabin to where Mateo stood.

"Stay where you are," he called. "Can you hear me?"

Mateo nodded emphatically.

"All right. Take your gun and start off across the flat, down the way
Cliff will come. Act like you didn't want to be seen. There's
somebody across on the hill, up here, and I want to see if he'll follow
you. You get me?"

"Si, yes. I'm go."

"After awhile you can come back. If you see Cliff, tell him he's after
ducks. Sabe?"

"Yo se. I'm onderstan'."

"All right. Go back in the house and come out the front door and start
off."

Mateo waved his hand and disappeared. In five minutes or less Johnny
saw him walking away from the cabin and glancing frequently at the
hills upon either hand. His manner might have been called stealthy, if
one were looking for stealth. Johnny was looking for something else,
and presently he gave a grunt of satisfaction. The object behind the
rock stood up a