remarked. "I don't
know your names, gentlemen," he went on, turning to Bud and the others,
"but this is my chief, Professor Hendryx Wright."

"I shall take some other occasion to thank you," spoke Professor
Wright, with a smile that included all the rescuers from Slim to Dick.
"But just now one of my men, possibly two, need attention from a
doctor. They have been shot."

"Better let me have a look at 'em," suggested Slim. "I'm not a doctor,
but that brand isn't plenty out here. If they're too bad, we can take
your men to the ranch. Where are they?"

Professor Wright waved his hand toward one of the tents, and while Slim
dismounted to make his way there, Bud and his cousins had time to look
about them.

In addition to four white men, which included the two professors, and
two who were apparently assistants, there were several Mexicans or
half-breeds. These were all armed and had, in common with their white
employers, been firing at the attacking party. Of the latter no
glimpse had been had. They seemed to have vanished into the forest
with the approach of the rescuers.

"Do you have things like this happen every day, Bud?" asked Nort, with
sparkling eyes, as the foreman disappeared into the tent where the
wounded men lay.

"No, indeed. This is as much a surprise to me as it is to you fellows.
I didn't even know this camp was here."

"What do you reckon it is?" asked Dick.

"Give it up," answered Bud. "I reckon even Zip Foster couldn't make
anything of this."

"Who's Zip Foster?" asked Nort.

"That's what a lot of us would give a deal to know, son," chuckled
Babe, who was rapidly making a survey of the camp. "He's a secret
friend of Bud's, an'----"

"Oh, cut it out!" exclaimed Bud, and even his tan did not altogether
hide the blood that surged into his face.

While the two professors were conversing together in low tones, and
their helpers, including two white men (evidently the Ed Newton and
Silas Thorp spoken of by Professor Blair) were putting to rights the
somewhat disrupted camp, Slim, the foreman, came from the tent.

"They're not much hurt," he declared. "Only flesh wounds, but they
ought to be treated with some dope I've got at the ranch house. They
can ride over, and I'll fix 'em up as best I can," he offered.

"You are very kind," murmured Professor Wright. "But it might be
dangerous for them to do so."

"Dangerous!" exclaimed Slim.

"Yes, I mean it might inflame their wounds