Meanwhile Avon Burnet and Gleeson continued riding at an easy , their eyes and ears on the alert for sounds of their friends or enemies.  
“Do you remember this spot?” asked the elder, drawing his mustang down to a walk, after going some distance.
 
The youth looked keenly round in the gloom, but saw only the level plain, similar to that over which they had ridden since leaving the cabin. A dark object on the ground caused him to force his toward it.
 
“That must be one of our cattle,” he said inquiringly.
 
“It’s what is left of him; that’s the that the Comanche brought down when he took a shot at you.”
 
 
“Ah, this is the place where you joined me?”
 
“Percisely.”
 
“But where is he––that is, his body?”
 
“They’ve took it off; you know how hard the Comanches try to carry away their dead and wounded.”
 
“I saw a proof of that while hunting for Thunderbolt, but I didn’t think they would be able to find this one.”
 
“They must have heard the shot and his cry, and though we made things hum about them, they took time to look into it and bear the body away.”
 
“I wonder now whether that could have been Wygwind,” said Avon, referring to the notorious leader of whom we have spoken.
 
“No,” was the decisive reply of Ballyhoo.
 
“Why not?”
 
“He is a powerful brave Injin, but plenty of his can outrun him. This one was too good on his feet to be him.”
 
The couple gave their horses again, and they broke into a gallop which carried them swiftly toward their destination. The of the camp-fire was discerned when they rode to the top of the next moderate .
 
“Hark!” exclaimed Ballyhoo, checking his pony.
 
His companion did the same, for he had caught the sound, which was that made by many .
 
“The confounded beasts are still at it,” added the elder, allowing his steed to resume his walk.
 
“The boys may be driving them back to camp.”
 
“No; it doesn’t sound right.”
 
“Do you imagine the Comanches are taking any hand in this?”
 
“It doesn’t strike me so, but there’s no saying what those varmints will do; they’re so fond of stealing that they’ll run great risks.”
 
However, since the couple were able to locate the running animals, they felt it their duty to bear a hand in to bring them back to camp. There was danger that if they were not speedily brought under control, the start could not be made on time.
 
“Come on, Baby,” called Gleeson, wheeling his animal to the right, and sending him off at a dead run.
 
Thunderbolt knew what was expected of him, and without waiting for orders, stretched away in the same direction, with the old thrill stirring his rider at the of exciting work at hand.
 
It was not long before they caught sight of the frightened animals, going as if a legion of wolves were at their heels. They were running from camp, and, unless their course could be changed, would be far from it before daylight.
 
In fact their presence so comparatively near proved that they were either another part of the main , or if the ones first stampeded, had broken off again, after being well on their way to their regular pasturing grounds.
 
“Look out! they may be Comanches!” called Ballyhoo to his youthful companion. “No, they are not either.”
 
The last remark was caused by the sight of two of their friends riding like mad, shouting and swinging their whips, which they had brought from camp. They were Madstone and Rickety, who were doing all they knew how to check the animals that seemingly would not be checked or turned aside.
 
It looked as if Ballyhoo and Avon must be to death, for they were directly in front of the rushing herd, but they swung their arms, holding each his rifle aloft, and shouted loud enough to be heard miles distant.
 
The mustangs were a little nervous, but were used to such experiences, and they did not catch the . They held their ground, though it was manifest they would have preferred to be somewhere else.
 
Suddenly, when the terrified beasts were almost upon them, they to one side. The change of direction was slight, but it was important as a beginning. The cowboys were quick to take advantage of it, and redoubled their shoutings and gesticulations. The cattle trended further and further from the course they had been following, and ere long were headed toward the camp.
 
 
They were now on the run and the four men kept them there, that they should not get away again.
 
Madstone explained that they were the ones that took fright earlier in the evening, and were on a dead run, when Ballyhoo shot down the Comanche that was pursuing Avon Burnet. The cattle had drifted a considerable way, but they were soon brought under control and headed in the right direction.
 
All was going well, when off they went again at a more rate than before. The cowboys were at loss to understand what caused the new outbreak, when, to their , three Comanches appeared in their front.
 
The dusky scamps did their best to run them off, but it was evident they were afraid of the Texans, who made a dash for them, whereupon they disappeared.
 
But they had turned the cattle in a new direction, and the Texans had all their work to do over again. There was little prospect of success, until Ballyhoo and 209Avon added their efforts, when matters assumed a better shape.
 
But the trouble was by no means over. If these animals should into the main herd at the rate they were now going, they were sure to spread the panic, with the probability that the whole two thousand would soon be on the run, and the difficulty of the ranchmen ten-fold.
 
Accordingly, as the ground was approached, the four horsemen resorted to the well-known practice of what may be called rounding-up. They back and , on the outer edge of the herd, and here and there, circumnavigating them continually and............