e
before which Bob's scrutiny fell abashed. For a while his suspicions of
anything unusual were almost lulled; the countryside _was_ proverbially
curious of anything out of the course of events. Then, from a point
midway up the steep trail, he just happened to look back, and just
happened through an extraordinary combination of openings to catch a
glimpse of a rider on the trail. The man was far below. Bob watched a
long time, his eye fixed on another opening. Nothing appeared. From
somewhere in the canon a coyote shrilled. Another answered him from up
the mountain. A moment later Bob again saw the rider through the same
opening as before, but this time descending.

"A signal!" he exclaimed, in reference to the coyote howls.

On arriving at the bare rock, he dismounted and hastily looked it over
on all sides. Near the stream it had been splashed. A tiny eddy out of
reach of the current still held mud in suspension.

X

On his arrival at camp he found Elliott much interested over discoveries
of his own. It seemed that the Easterner had spent the afternoon
fishing. At one point, happening to look up, he caught sight of a man
surveying him intently from a thicket. As he stared, the man drew back
and disappeared.

"I couldn't see him very plainly," said Elliott. "He had a beard and an
old gray hat; but that doesn't mean much of course. When I got my nerve
up, and had concluded to investigate, I could hardly find a trace of
him. He must wear moccasins, I think."

In return Bob detailed his own experiences. The two could make nothing
of it all.

"If we were down South I'd say 'moonshiners,'" said Elliott, "but the
beautiful objection to that is, that we aren't!"

"It's some mystery to do with the Basin," said Bob, "and the whole
countryside is 'on'--except our boys. I don't believe California John
knew a thing about it."

"Didn't act so. Question: what possibly could everybody in the mountains
be interested in that the Forest Service would object to?"

"Lots of things," replied Bob promptly, "but I don't believe the
mountains are unfriendly to us--as a unit. I know Martin isn't, and he
was the first one I noticed as particularly worried."

Elliott reflected.

"If he's so friendly, perhaps he was a little uneasy about _us_," he
suggested at length. "If somebody doesn't want the Forest Service in
this neck of the woods--if that somebody is relying on the fact that we
never come down in here farther than