"
"Then you don't believe that little Lopez had anything to do with it,
Frank?"
"What, that Mex boy? Oh! he's out of the business long ago," replied
the other.
"In what way? Didn't he come along this trail ahead of us?" asked Bob.
"Sure thing," Frank went on. "But you see I've missed the marks of
that burro's little hoofs for nearly twenty minutes. I made up my mind
Lopez had some slick way of climbing out of the _barranca_ a ways back,
without leaving much of any trail. I told you he was a sly one, and I
say the same now, no matter whether he's a brother to the girl you
defended against Peg, or the girl herself."
"All right, Frank. Get us out of this as soon as you can," Bob
remarked, looking ahead, as though he did not much fancy the appearance
of things there.
Ten minutes later Frank drew rein sharply.
"What's doing?" asked Bob, nervously, as he half raised his rifle,
which he had insisted on holding in his hand all the time since that
meeting with Peg. "Think you see signs of trouble from Peg and his
bunch; or is it something else?"
"Something else this time," remarked Frank. "Fact is, our chance has
come to get up out of here with the nags!"
CHAPTER XI
THE BLACK NIGHT
"How does this suit you, Bob?"
Frank asked this question as he and his comrade sat there in their
saddles, and glanced around at the peaceful scene. They had climbed
the bank of the _barranca_, and reached a spot where the grass was
growing under a cluster of mesquite trees.
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