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their power.

The excitement of the boys increased when Mr. Moultrie entered the gully.
It was manifest that he was no stranger here and as he swiftly advanced,
his followers found difficulty in keeping up with the pace that he set.

For fifteen minutes not a word was spoken although the excitement
increased with every passing minute. Indeed, it was manifest that the
interest of Zeke and the Navajoes was steadily increasing as they moved
farther into the gulch.

Fifteen minutes later the man who had been introduced to the boys as
Moultrie abruptly halted and said, "It is right here."

"What is here?" demanded Grant, who was now the spokesman for the Go Ahead
Boys.

"Simon Moultrie's claim," said the man simply.

"What!" demanded Grant. "Where is it? I don't see it. What have you to do
with it?"

"It's right before you," said the tall man, smiling as he spoke, "and the
reason why I am here is because that claim belongs to me. I am James
Moultrie, Simon's younger brother. After he found this place and filed his
claim he wrote me what he had done and said that he had made his will,
leaving the whole thing to me."

"And who is this man?" demanded Grant, turning to Moultrie's companion.

"His name is Pratt. Didn't Zeke introduce him?"

"Yes," answered Grant. "I know who he is but what is he?"

"He's a prospector who has been working around here not far from my
brother more or less for five years. My brother was almost insane and
Pratt knew it. He tried to keep a little watch over him, but Sime wouldn't
have him around. He was about here, however, when my brother died and he
helped me locate the claim."

"Were you the man who took our diary?" spoke up John.

"'Your' diary is good," laughed Mr. Moultrie. "Do you think it really was
yours?"

"We found it," said John doggedly.

"By the same rule," said Mr. Moultrie, "the man that found this boy when
he was lost in the gulch ought to own him. We took the diary all right,
but it belonged to us anyway. We were only appropriating what was ours."

"What about that boat that was stove in?"

"That was an accident. We took one of the boats fully expecting to give it
back to you within a day or two. We struck a rock and that's all there is
to the story."

"But what about that pack?"

"Our supplies were all gone so we took the pack," laughed the man.

"Did Zeke know about it?" suddenly inquired Fred.

"I reckon he wasn't altogether lacking in information," lau