y the chuck wagon, following the instructions of Ted,
stopped at the sign camp, and left a supply of provisions and Bud's
blankets.

Bud looked out the window of the cabin, and saw that the herd was
grazing quietly, for the cattle were very hungry, and as they were safe
for the time being, he rolled himself in his blankets and was soon
sleeping soundly.

He awoke on hearing a fumbling at the door, and sat up.

It was pitch dark, and he had slept nearly all day.

Unlimbering his six-shooter, he called, "Who's thar?"

"Ach, Pud, it's me alretty," came the muffled reply.

"So it's you, Carl. Why don't you come in?"

"Der door open, Pud, please. I my arrums full mit dings have."

Bud sprang from his blankets and threw the door open, admitting a cold
blast and a flurry of snow.

"Ugh!" he ejaculated, with a shudder. "Come in, yer fat wad o' Dutch.
What yer waitin' fer?"

"Someding has my hat stolen off mit my head." Carl's voice expressed
both perplexity and awe.

Evidently something unusual had happened, and Bud put on his hat and
stepped outside.

He had no sooner passed through the doorway than his own hat was
snatched from his head.

He drew his revolver, leaped into the open, and looked about him.

There was no one in sight except Carl, who was standing near him with
his arms full of blankets and bundles.

Carl could not have played the trick on him, and there was not wind
enough to have blown the hat away. Anyhow, it had been snatched from his
head by a hand and not by the wind.

There was something uncanny about this.

It was still light enough to see out in the open, and the snow-covered
ground reflected light enough to have discovered an intruder had one
been there.

Bud ran around the house, but could find no person, and there were no
tracks of a man's foot in the snow.

"Jumpin' sand hills, but that's queer," said Bud, coming back to where
Carl was still standing in the snow before the door, staring about in a
bewildered way. "Gosh ding yer, Carl, I believe yer swiped my hat, an'
if yer don't give it up I'll plant my toe whar it'll be felt
onpleasantly."

"Honest, Pud, I ain't your hat taking," said Carl distressfully. "Vhy, I
my hat losing too, yet."

"That's so, an' yer loaded down with truck. Throw them things inter ther
house an' help me hunt ther thief. Don' be standin' thar like a
sausage."

"Don'd you calling me a sissage," said Carl wrathfully. "I ain't feeling
mooch as havin