he lead with
Slim.

But the two figures whose horses were rapidly slowing to a walk, showed
no signs of fight. Indeed the larger of the two men cried:

"We surrender, gentlemen!"

In the half light of the moon Bud, Nort and Dick looked at each other
on hearing that voice. It brought back to them very vividly a picture
of strenuous times.

"Don't let 'em shoot, Professor!" chimed in another voice. "If I only
had my long poker here----"

"Be quiet, Zeb," spoke the one who had offered to surrender. "You
aren't attending the school furnace now."

"I only wish I was," came the rueful comment.

"Did you hear that?" spoke Bud to his cousins.

"It's Professor Wright!" exclaimed Nort and Dick in a sort of surprised
duet.

"But what's he doing here, and at night, and why did he run?" asked Bud.

However, these questions could be answered later. Just now Slim and
his bunch of cowboys were interested in discovering the object or
motive of the strangers of the night--strangers in that the foremen and
his helpers had not recognized the identity of the two men. And, in
fact, Professor Wright--he of the pre-historic monster fame--was the
only one known to the boys, and then only by his voice. Who "Zeb"
might be they could only guess.

"Except that I'd say, first shot, he was janitor in some small college
where the professor taught," remarked Nort, and this proved to be the
case.

"What do you want?" queried Slim of the two former fugitives, though
really they were that no longer, being now surrounded by the cowboys.

"We were looking for the ranch of Mr. Merkel--Diamond X it is called, I
believe," said the taller of the two strange riders.

"Well, you're running away from it," commented Snake Purdee.

"And why did you fire at us?" asked Slim.

"Gentlemen, I didn't fire. I am Professor Hendryx Wright, and this is
my helper, Zeb Tauth. He is the janitor at my school, and I have
brought him out west with me. I have a small party accompanying me and
we are going to make another search for fossil bones as I did once
before at Diamond X ranch. I was looking for the place in the
darkness, having left my other men and supplies some distance back,
when you suddenly set after us. I took you for horse thieves----"

"Just what we sized _you_ up as," laughed Slim, who now had recognized
the professor, though Zeb was a stranger. "Mighty sorry to have
troubled you," went on the foreman, "but we couldn't take any cha