t de 'oman an' ride off--he lif her oop an' tie her on de
saddle an' ride off leadin' Powder Face. By'm'by Tex com' long on beeg
hoss an' nodder man on leetle hoss. Tex git off an' look roun' an' fin'
de 'oman gon'--he joomp on de hoss an ride lak hell after de man an' de
'oman."

Endicott was staring, white-lipped into the half-breed's face. He leaped
up and seized the man's arm roughly. "Did he catch them?" he cried.

Bat shook his head: "_Non_--not yet. We fol' 'long on de trail--we fin'
dat out. Com' we git de hoss."

"But, maybe it was Tex who got here first and rode away with her," cried
Endicott as they hastened toward the picketed horses. "Surely you can't
tell from those tracks----"

The other interrupted him: "_Oui!_ De track don't lie. Ol' Bat, she know
'bout dat. Me--A'm know Tex track an' when she tromp 'roun' she shov' de
mud on de odder man track--eef de odder track ain' dere firs' how in
hell Tex kin shov' de mud on it?"

"And this happened yesterday! Oh, Alice! Alice!" The man's voice broke
on the name, and glancing into his face, Bat saw that it glistened wet
with the sweat of torture.

As they mounted he offered a word of advice and encouragement: "Dat
better you ain' los' de, w'at you call, de guts. Mebbe-so you 'oman all
right. We fin' um safe on som' ranch house."

The trail of the four horses was so plain that even Endicott found no
difficulty in following it across the bench. Bat struck into a steady
trot which was maintained till he pulled up sharply at a point where the
trail dimmed to nothing upon the hard lava rock of the bad lands. The
half-breed studied the ground: "De leetle hoss turn back," he announced,
"Tex, she gon' on in. He los' de trail, now--he ain' kin pick it oop in
here--he ain' Injun. He', w'at you call, goin' it blin'."

Unhesitatingly the old half-breed followed along a ridge and dropped off
into a coulee. He rode slowly, now, with his eyes on the hard rocky
ground. Several times he dismounted and Endicott's heart sank as he
watched him search, sometimes upon hands and knees. But always the old
man straightened up with a grunt of satisfaction and mounting proceeded
confidently upon his course, although try as he would, Endicott could
discern no slightest mark or scratch that would indicate that anyone had
passed that way. "Are you really following a trail?" he asked, at
length, as the Indian headed up a coulee whose wind-swept floor was
almost solid rock.

The old