will have all the stampede you want to see," exclaimed Ned. "My,
but they surely are restless!"

This last remark was caused by some of the steers which raised
their heads at the approach of the riders, then turned and dashed
back to the body of the herd.

"Oh, dear! I'm afraid we've started them," said Horace.

"Pull in your horses!" commanded Ned. "The main bunch is all
right. If we come up to them slow, there won't be any trouble."

Obeying instantly, the boys reined their horses to a walk and
reached the pool without causing further alarm among the cattle.

"So this is where the ghosts live, is it?" asked Tom, gazing from a
little knoll at a placid body of water about one hundred feet long
by twice as many wide, surrounded by reeds.

"Maybe you won't laugh so much to-night," declared their friend and
then, because he did not like to be joked about his belief that the
place was haunted, he added: "Come on, let's see if we can find
which direction father and the boys took."

The chance to try if they could track any one on the prairie
appealed to the others, and they started to ride around the pool.

"I can see where they had a camp fire!" cried Tom, pointing toward
a pile of white ashes.

"Here's where the grass is all tramped down. Look, there's a
regular path right for the mountains."

"No, this is the way they went, to the south, here," returned Larry.

Each boy was firm in his declaration that he had found the trail
and to prove it they dismounted and began to examine the ground.

"I'm right. I can see horse tracks!" cried Larry. "This is the
way they took, isn't it, Ned?" Thus appealed to, both Horace and
the man rode up.

"Larry's right," announced Ned, after a few moments observation,

"Then what caused my tracks?" demanded Tom. "Here are horse
tracks, too, only most of the hoofprints are made by cattle."

"Oh, you can't tell a cow from a pony print," taunted Horace.

"Come over and see for yourself," retorted Tom.

Examination proving that he was right, his friend exclaimed:

"That was made by the boys coming up."

"But the tracks are all going toward the mountains. They certainly
wouldn't drive any cattle away with them. You don't--you don't
suppose it's another raid, do you?" and Tom glanced at Ned.

"Yes."

CHAPTER XV

THE CONTESTED TRAIL

The thought that the cattle thieves should have dared to make still
another raid on the very night when the outfits of the H