tt of his gun down
to the ground and leaning on the barrel. "It's no use whatever!"

The boys eyed the speaker suspiciously, but said nothing.

"I followed on as fast as I could!" Katz continued. "But they were on
horseback, and I was on foot, so what could I do? Besides, it was too
dark that I couldn't see to shoot," he went on.

"Oh, you went out after the robbers, did you?" asked Will, not caring to
call the fellow's attention to the fact that he ran away to the north
before the riders made their appearance.

"Why, yes!" was the reply. "What else could I do?"

The boys suspected that Katz had returned to the vicinity of the camp in
time to hear the officer explain exactly what was going on. They were
satisfied that he had not pursued the horsemen at all after they had
passed him, but decided not to enter into any argument with him.

"Well," Will said in a moment. "If you'll all go to bed now, I'll sit up
until morning. I don't suppose you boys care to be wakened if we have
any more midnight visitors?" he asked tentatively.

"You needn't wake me up for any running race!" Tommy commented.

"If it's all the same to you," Katz suggested, "I prefer to sleep the
remainder of the night. Of course," he went on, "if you need me for your
defence, you need have no compunctions in waking me."

The boys laughed at the idea of calling upon the fellow to assist in
defending the camp should necessity arise, and the object of their mirth
glared at them suspiciously as he turned away to his tent.

In half an hour the camp was quiet again, with Will sitting in front of
the fire reading. The coyotes and wolves, which had been frightened away
by the shooting and the clatter of hoofs, now came forward again, and
Will was thinking seriously of taking a shot at a great gray beast when
a soft call came from the darkness.

"Hello!" the voice said. "Hello!"

"Come up and show yourself!" returned Will.

"Will you give me something to eat if I come up?"

"Sure I will," replied the boy with a grin. "Meals at all hours, you
know! We usually run a hotel where we stop."

"Well you've got a customer right now!" came the voice from the
darkness, and the next moment the figure of a lad of about fourteen made
its appearance in the glow of the fire.

Will stood regarding the boy with open-eyed amazement for a moment and
then swung his hand forward in the full salute of a Boy Scout.

"That's all right!" the strange boy cried. "I'm glad