the three
men they had expected to discover, Megget and his companions saw a
dozen.

"That's the Half-Moon bunch!" declared one of them.

"There are too many of them," asserted another. "We're in a pretty
mess now. Those three men we followed have evidently informed them
of finding our trail and they are starting to pick it up."

"Don't you worry about that," growled Megget. And before his
companions were aware what he intended to do, he uttered the calls
that caused the ranch owners and cowboys to start out into the
prairie.

Eagerly the raiders watched them disappear and Megget chuckled:

"I thought I could fool 'em. It's easy when you are above any
one." And then he added: "You'll wish you had never started after
me, Wilder!"

Wondering at their leader's meaning, his fellows had no chance to
ask, however, for even as he spoke Megget was descending from the
ledge.

Arriving at the camp fire, he glanced about for a few moments, then
sent his men for the horses.

As soon as he was sure he was alone, the leader of the raiders
walked out on the plains, paused, wet his finger in his mouth, then
raised his hand above his head.

"Great! I'm sure playing in luck," he muttered to himself. "The
wind is blowing from the west--straight out across the plains."
And chuckling grimly, the cattle thief returned to the fire to
await the horses.

Mounting quickly when they arrived, Megget gave a curt order for
his own men to follow and galloped in the same direction the ranch
owners and cowboys had taken.

At the end of a quarter of a mile he drew rein and again went
through the performance of wetting his finger and raising it above
his head, murmuring more to himself than his pals:

"I didn't know but that the hills might have changed the direction
of the wind.

"Here, you," he added, turning to his men, "two of you ride a mile
up and Squinty and I'll ride south. When I give the call, fire the
grass and then ride for the trail and drive the cattle to the mine.
I'll cut across and warn Vasquez and the others."

CHAPTER XX

THE PRAIRIE FIRE

As his men heard the words and realized their significance, they
glanced at their leader and then at one another.

Yet none of them moved.

"Are you deaf?" roared Megget. "Do as I say--and lively. Squinty,
come with me." And clapping spurs to his pony, he dashed southward.

Fearing to disobey, the two raiders delegated to ride to the north
started. But a