."

"I'll ride over to the place with you and investigate," returned Songbird
Powell after a moment's thought. "Perhaps we can get on the trail of the
thieves."

"Can we go along?" questioned Spouter quickly.

"No, Son. We want to use the horses. And, anyway, I think it would be
better for you lads to remain behind."

Songbird and the foreman hurried down to the horse corral accompanied by
Tom and Sam. And thus the boys and girls, as well as the ladies of the
household, were left by themselves.

"Gee! I'd like to go on a chase after those horse thieves," burst out
Andy.

"You might get a pretty warm reception if you did that," remarked Fred.
"Horse thieves and cattle rustlers are usually a bad bunch."

"It isn't likely they'll get on the trail of the horses very quickly,"
put in Jack. "Those fellows have too much of a start. The most they can
do is to advertise the loss as widely as possible and trust to it that
some one will recognize the horses, especially Blackbird."

The boys had spoken about going fishing, and Ruth and May had asked if
they could go along. As a consequence the young folks spent the remainder
of the afternoon along the river. They managed to catch a good mess of
fish, of which they were justly proud.

"And just to think! I caught two of the fish myself!" exclaimed Ruth. "I
never knew I was going to be a fisherman."

"You mustn't say 'fisherman;' you must say fisherlady," put in Andy
mischievously.

The men did not return until ten o'clock that night. All were tired and
hungry and glad to sit down to the meal which Mrs. Powell and the cook
provided.

"It was a wild-goose chase," answered Tom Rover in reply to a question
from Andy. "We followed half a dozen clues, but they didn't get us
anywhere."

"What are you going to do next, Dad?" questioned Spouter.

"We sent word to Arrow Junction and several other places, and they'll
post notices giving a description of the stolen animals," answered
Songbird. "And I've offered a hundred dollars reward for any information
leading to the recovery of the horses."

The next day one of the cowboys came in with more information. This was
to the effect that a ranch in that neighborhood, owned by a man named
Cheltham, had suffered the loss of three horses, one a mare of
considerable value.

"Say, this certainly is getting interesting," said Jack, when the lads
heard the older heads talking it over. "First thing we know, all the
horses on the plac