George waited with no little impatience to find out what they were going to do when they made an end of the bacon and coffee, and was very glad to see that they were preparing for an immediate departure. When all was ready the wounded members of the band were assisted into their saddles, Zeke’s horse and George’s pack-mule were set at liberty, and the raiders moved slowly along the willows in the direction the cattle had taken when they were stampeded. It was a wonder that their suspicions were not aroused by the actions of the mule which, foolish as mules generally are, ran at once to the buffalo wallow in which George was concealed, and not content with shying at the sight of it and giving it a wide berth, as Zeke’s horse did, Bony circled around it two or three times, and finally stopping, thrust out his neck, threw his long ears forward and looked suspiciously at the crouching form of his master. George, who had been in a fever of suspense for long hours, and who began to breathe more freely when he saw the raiders moving away, was frightened again; but, as it happened, the thieves paid no attention to the mule’s actions. Better than that, Zeke’s horse kept on his way without stopping, and Bony, seeing that he was going to be left behind, started in pursuit. The danger was over now, but George was much too wary to run any risks. He saw the raiders disappear over the nearest swell, but he allowed another hour to pass before he left his hiding-place. Then he moved very cautiously, crawling along on his hands and knees, stopping every few feet to look over the grass and listen, and examining the ground about the camp very thoroughly before he ventured into the woods. He found the camp in the greatest confusion. His rifle and revolvers were gone, so were his blankets and poncho, and also a good portion of the contents of the pack-saddle; but there was still a little of the bacon and hard-tack left, and the raiders had forgotten to take his haversack and frying-pan. He replenished the fire at once, and while waiting for it to get fairly started, employed himself in cutting up the bacon with an old rusty hunting-knife which one of the thieves had probably left in exchange for his own new one. While he was thus engaged he did not neglect to keep an eye open for any straggling raiders who might have fallen behind the main body; but there were none in sight. He placed the bacon in the frying-pan, and when it was done to his satisfaction he put it into his haversack, together with the small supply of hard-tack that was left, extinguished the fire and set out for home. “I am glad the thieves left me provisions enough to last me until I can get more,” said George, to himself. “If I have to travel all the way on foot, it will take me four or five days to reach the nearest rancho, and I have no fears of getting hungry during that time. What brought those raiders so far from the river? That’s what I can’t understand.”