every point, and his men, working with
him, had reason to be aware of the fact. It was an old saying amongst
them that when "the Ferret" was let loose there was no chance of bits
rusting. In other words, his mileage report to his chiefs would be a
long one.

As the sergeant anticipated, it was child's play to track the stolen
herd. The tracks left by the fast-driven cattle was apparent to the
veriest greenhorn, and Horrocks and his men were anything but
greenhorns.

Long before evening closed in they had followed the footprints right
down to the edge of the great muskeg, and already Horrocks anticipated a
smart capture. But his task seemed easier than it really was. On the
brink of the keg the tracks became confused. With some difficulty the
sleuth instincts of these accomplished trackers led them to follow the
marks for a mile and a half along the edge of the mire, then, it seemed,
the herd had been turned and driven with great speed back on their
tracks. But worse confusion became apparent; and "the Ferret" soon
realized that the herd had been driven up and down along the border of
the great keg with a view to evading further pursuit. So frequently had
this been done that it was impossible to further trace the stock, and
the sun was already sinking when Horrocks dismounted, and with him his
men were at last forced to acknowledge defeat.

He had come to a standstill with a stretch of a mile and a half of
cattle tracks before him. There was no sign further than this of where
the beasts had been driven. The keg itself gave no clew. It was as green
and trackless as ever, and again on the land side there was not a single
foot-print beyond the confused marks along the quagmire's dangerous
border.

The work of covering retreat had been carried out by a master hand, and
Horrocks was not slow to acknowledge the cleverness of the raider. With
all one good prairie man's appreciation for another he detected a foeman
worthy of his steel, and he warmed to the problem set out before him.
The troopers waited for their superior's instructions. As "the Ferret"
did not speak one of the men commented aloud.

"Smart work, sergeant," he said quietly. "I'm not surprised that this
fellow rode roughshod over the district for so long and escaped all who
were sent to nab him. He's clever, is P. Retief, Esq."

Horrocks was looking out across the great keg. Strangely enough they had
halted within twenty yards of the willow bush, at which