Arriving at the pins which had been driven into the ground each boy
sought to clutch the rope that held his restlessly moving horse; and
hand over hand, they moved up on the animals, the blankets thrown over
their shoulders meanwhile.
A few low-spoken words served to partly soothe Buckskin and his black
mate; then the blankets were arranged about their heads, and secured in
such fashion that no unlucky snort or whinny might betray their
presence to those who passed by.
CHAPTER VII
THE RUSTLERS
At a word from his master the well trained Buckskin doubled up, and lay
down on the ground. Most cowboy ponies are taught to do this trick by
their masters, and it is in common use; so that the punchers believe it
is a poor animal that has not learned to roll over and play dead on
occasion.
Bob, too, managed to induce his mount to do the same thing; but to make
it absolutely certain that no unwise flounder on the part of Domino
might betray them, he sat upon the horse's head, soothing him by little
pats on his glossy hide.
"I hear 'em coming," announced Frank, presently.
The sounds reached him against the wind, so that it was quite natural
to believe the approaching horses must by now be very close. There was
a confused pounding that could only spring from a large body of
animals. The trained ear of Frank caught a significance in the clash
of hoofs that told him much more than Bob was able to make out.
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