same time broiling a good supply and stowing it in our pockets to serve
the rest of the day. Then, with darkness still obscuring our movements,
we saddled and rode over the ridge and down into Lost River, crossing
that ancient waterway before the first glimmer of light in the east.

Day found us dismounted in the head of a coulee where we could spy on
the Police camp from a distance of three miles, more or less. About
sunrise the troop left camp in a body, later spreading fanwise over the
prairies. Once a party trotted by within a half-mile of us, but no one
of the four men we wanted to see was in the squad.

Until after the noon hour we laid _perdu_ in the hollow, no wiser for
our watching. Then I saw a number of riders debouch from the camp, and
at once trained the glasses on them. At first I couldn't distinguish any
particular face among so many shifting forms, but presently they split
in two bodies, and these again subdivided; and in the bunch coming
toward us I recognized three men, Lessard, unmistakable in his black
uniform, Hicks, and Bevans. I turned the glasses over to MacRae then.

"I thought probably some more of our friends would show up," he said,
after a quick survey. "With those two in sight the chances are that all
four are with the troop. The other fellows in that squad are just plain
buck Policemen. Confound them, I wish----Aha, by Jupiter! the big chief
is turning off those two."

As Mac spoke I saw the two men I had spotted as Hicks and Bevans swing
away from the rest and angle toward Lost River. From our vantage point
we watched them come abreast and pass us at a distance well within a
mile. The others turned south, directly away from us.

"Now," Mac coolly declared, "here's where we get the chance we want, if
we're lucky. We'll keep parallel with these gentlemen, and if they get
out of touch with the rest we'll make a try at nailing them. Be careful,
though, how you show yourself; there's at least fifty of these
peacemakers within four or five miles, and a shot or a yell will bring
them on a high run."

Hicks and Bevans, whatever their destination, were in no haste. They
rode at a walk most of the time, and we were forced to keep the same
pace. It was slow work poking along those coulee-bottoms, now and then
making a risky sneak to ground, whence we could get a clear view of the
game we were stalking so assiduously.

Progressing in this manner we finally reached the breaks that ran down
to L