At first, the world-famous desperado would not listen to the suggestion, declaring that if either of them went, he would. But his opposition was finally overcome by his chum's argument that it would be less disastrous for him to be captured than his chief and, picking out a thicket several rods from the trail they had been following, Jesse concealed himself to await the result of the scouting expedition. Leaving his horse behind, the eldest of the Younger brothers glided away among the trees, now dodging from one trunk to another, now dropping to his knees, but ever with the silence and stealth of an Indian brave. The roar of the guide had been heard by the detectives as well, and as it broke on the air, Higgins cursed the man roundly. "He'd wake the dead," he growled. "If Jesse's in these woods, he'll get wise in a jiffy. Confound the idiot, anyhow." "Don't fly off the handle so," soothed Jones. "The bandits probably know we're after them. They'll think the shout came from behind and ride all the faster to reach the cabin to get their nags hidden before we get there. "Come on. I want to be in on some of the fun." But when the detectives arrived at the edge of the woods, they were confronted by the fact that they were ignorant of the direction to take to reach the rest of the posse. "Perhaps they'll shout again," hazarded one of their number. Yet, though they listened intently, no further sound came from either the posse or the winner of the hundred dollars. At the end of five minutes, the detectives were unable longer to stand the suspense. "Hey, some of you! Come and show us the way!" halloed Higgins. Instead of obeying, however, the countryfolk yelled for them to ride in a straight line from a clump of beeches. Unfamiliar with the different kinds of trees, the professional man-hunters were unable to recognize the beeches and quickly made the fact known, whereupon the grizzled farmer, who had acted as guide for the others, returned to them. After separating from his chief, Cole had laid his course so that he would come out on a little rise in front of Brett's hut between it and the field in which the Pinkertons were. Unaware of their presence, the outlaw was mounting the elevation when the cry from the detectives came to him. Dropping flat on the instant, he listened for the response, peering about to see if he had run into an ambuscade. But as the answer rang out from the opposite side, he realized that some of the men had reached the cabin. Surprised at finding himself between them, in danger of discovery by one party or the other, Cole lost no time in wriggling down the little hill. It was enough for him to know that some of the man-hunters had reached Brett's ahead of Jesse and himself and, without trying to ascertain how strong was their force, he bounded away to apprise the world-famous desperado of the situation.