ble,
Ned. Where is he?"

"Gone with his brother Chris."

"His brother!" cried Tom. "Did his brother come back?"

"He did--yesterday. Hans found him, and such a meeting nobody ever
see before. The brother is going to another town and Hans with
him. They started to-day."

The knowledge that Hans had found his brother was a great relief to
Tom and Larry, and they lost no time in saying so.

"If you feel that way, then it surely is all right," declared the
ranchman. "We're going into the hills for a few days hunting, Ned.
If you need me, you'll find me somewhere on the 'Lost Lode' trail."

"With them tenderfeet?" inquired the handy man, eyeing Tom and
Larry doubtfully.

"Don't take them for easy, Ned. They put the laugh on Gus Megget,
so I reckon they can take care of themselves in the hills and on
the Half-Moon, too," he added with an emphasis which was to act as
a warning to be passed along to the cowboys.

"So it's them two I heard 'em talkin' about in Tolopah? Howdy,
gents! I sure takes off my bonnet to you," and Ned swept his
sombrero good naturedly from his head. "Say, you two are the only
topic of conversation in Tolopah about now. Couple of passengers
told what you all done, and now everybody's telling everybody else.
So it was you kids put the kibosh on Gus Megget. Phew! I hope I
don't get you riled up." And clucking to his horses, Ned drove on
to the wagon shed.

"When you go into Tolopah, you'll own the town," smiled Mr. Wilder,
looking at the brothers. "You see, you are famous already."

But Larry and Tom only laughed, while the latter exclaimed:

"I'd rather find the Lost Lode than fight Megget."

"So my boys have told you about the mine and the ghosts, eh?" And
shaking his bridle, the ranchman waved good-by to his wife and
cantered away, followed by the others.

For a few minutes they rode without talking, the Wilder boys a
trifle envious of the reputation their friends had achieved and the
chums trying to get accustomed to riding with a rifle bumping their
backs.

They soon got the swing of it, however, and, as the ponies settled
into an easy, steady lope, Tom exclaimed:

"Larry, we're in the saddle and on the plains at last."

"Like it, what?" queried Horace.

"It's what we've been dreaming of for months," declared Larry.
"Only, I say, Mr. Wilder, let's drop Megget. All we did was to get
away from him."

"As you like," smiled the ranchman, "but that's something."