When the force arrived at the camp of the two scouts they were shown
the plan prepared for them. Buck made a few changes in the disposition
of the men and then each member was shown where he was to go and was
told why. Weapons were put in a high state of efficiency, canteens
were refilled and haversacks were somewhat depleted. Then the
newcomers turned in and slept while Hopalong and Red kept guard.
CHAPTER XXI
The Call
At three o'clock the next morning a long line of men slowly filed
into the cottonwood grove, being silently swallowed up by the dark.
Dismounting, they left their horses in the care of three of their
number and disappeared into the brush. Ten minutes later forty of the
force were distributed along the edge of the grove fringing on the
bank of the river and twenty more minutes gave ample time for a
detachment of twenty to cross the stream and find concealment in the
edge of the woods which ran from the river to where the corral made an
effective barrier on the south.
Eight crept down on the western side of the camp and worked their way
close to Mr. Trendley's cabin door, and the seven who followed this
detachment continued and took up their positions at the rear of the corral,
where, it was hoped, some of the rustlers would endeavor to
escape into the woods by working their way through the cattle in the corral
and then scaling the stockade wall.
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