"I wonder if the days are any longer here than back east," he remarked. "It's you," replied Nat. "Stop thinking about it, and Friday night will come sooner." "Can't help it," Jack went on, with a deep sigh. Friday night came at last, though it was nearly ten o'clock before Jack, who was anxiously waiting in his room, received a message that some one wanted to see him. He went down and was met by Mr. Hardy. The man showed the dust and grime of travel. "Well?" asked Jack. "When do you want to start?" asked Mr. Hardy. "To-morrow morning," was Jack's quick reply, and a load was lifted from his mind. "Then I'll have a horse for you here at nine o'clock," Mr. Tevis's friend went on, as he handed back the rings and the card. "Can't John and Nat go along?" inquired Jack, for he had mentioned his friends to Mr. Hardy. "I suppose so," was the answer. "It will take longer if so many of us go, but I have no orders to keep your friends back if they want to accompany us. It's a wild trip, and has to be made on horseback." "They'll want to go. None of us is a good rider, but we'll do our best" "Very well, I'll have three horses." "Do you think Mr. Tevis will have some news of my father?" asked Jack, a note of anxiety coming into his voice. "I shouldn't be surprised," was the cautious answer. "Mr. Tevis can generally be depended on to produce the goods. Now I'll leave you, as I have lots of work to do before morning. I'm glad I succeeded in arranging it for you," "So am I," exclaimed Jack, as he held out his hand and met that of Mr. Hardy's in hearty clasp. "Can you two stand a hundred mile ride on horseback?" asked Jack of his two chums, when he was back in his room. "Two if necessary," replied John. "And two it will have to be," Jack went on. "I forgot it's a hundred each way. Well, we're in for it," and he explained what Mr. Hardy had told him. The horses which Mr. Tevis's messenger brought around the next morning proved to be steady-going animals. Their backs were broad and they carried easy-riding saddles. Under the direction of the guide the boys packed up some blankets and enough "grub," to last several days, since they could not expect to make as good time as had Mr. Hardy. Leaving their trunks and grips at the hotel the boys, with their new-found friend in the lead, started for Mr. Tevis's mountain home. "He's a strange man," said Mr, Hardy, as he rode along by Jack's side a little later. "He had so much trouble with a band of bad men once that he made up his mind he would have no more. He knows the gang is still trying to get the best of him, and that's why he takes so many precautions. It is the same ugly crowd that made your father an exile, I understand." "But his exile is almost up," said Jack earnestly. "The eleven years will pass this summer, and he can come back to us." "If you can only find him to get word to him." "Do you think I can't find him?"