"Captain Gray, he emptied twelve saddles, so he must have shot two men with each bullet, as his magazine holds only six cartridges. I call that some shooting."
"Is that so? Then I must have done as you say. Wonderful, wasn't it?"
At this juncture, Sheriff Ford rode into camp and was quickly told of what Stacy had discovered. Mr. Ford, after a few quick questions, realized that the boy really had stumbled on the right trail and discovered the bandits.
"You did well, young man," he complimented. "I thought I had struck a lead, but the trail pinched out. Can you take us to the place where you came on those ruffians?"
"No, but the pony can, or you can follow my trail. I reckon I left a pretty plain one. I know Uncle Hip better than you do, and if he has been able to get away from the fellows who captured him I'll guarantee that he will find us. He would know we wouldn't go away and leave him. For that reason I suggest that we build a fire to attract Uncle Hip's attention, should he be in this vicinity."
One of the men protested, saying it would be dangerous, but the sheriff agreed with Stacy.
"We will have a fire and will post guards to protect ourselves," he said. "We shall not be bothered by the bandits to-night; I am positive of that. They know that the alarm has been given and that, in all probability, a posse is already on their trail. If nothing develops during the night--if we get no news from Lieutenant Wingate--we will start for Gardner in the morning and organize a big searching party to comb the mountains for him."
After all phases of the situation had been discussed, the sheriff's plan was agreed to, and a fire was built up. It had been blazing for some time when, in a lull in the conversation, Stacy was reminded that he had not finished telling about his meeting with the bandits.
"Yes. You left off with shooting two men with each bullet," laughed Tom Gray.
"In the excitement of meeting up with the villains," resumed Stacy, without an instant's hesitation, "I wheeled the pony--spun him about on his hind feet like a top, set him down on all fours and dashed away. We didn't gallop, we simply dashed. You know it wasn't that I was afraid. Anyone who knows me knows that nothing can scare me. I--"