Muttering imprecations under his breath, Sag Ruff turned around and Soapy Gannon did the same. Then Bob lowered his gun for the moment and took the reins of the mule. Darling and the wagon were turned around and faced in the direction from whence they had come. "Now march!" cried Mark, who still had his shotgun leveled. "And no monkey work remember, or you'll get what you won't like." The outfit was started up, and slowly they proceeded through the timber. The trail now led from the river and they passed some rough rocks. "Here is where we get away!" cried Sag Ruff, in a low voice. "Break for it, Soapy--it's our only chance!" He leaped for the rocks, and seeing this his tool did the same. As they passed out of sight Mark's shotgun went off, but the boy did not have the heart to shoot straight at them and the shot merely cut through the tree branches overhead. "There they go!" "Come back here!" roared Bob, dropping the reins and taking up his weapon. "If you fire again, I'll fire!" answered Sag Ruff, and the next instant a bullet whistled so close to Mark's head that he dodged and fell up against the side of the mule. Then Bob fired, but the shot merely grazed the gambler's arm and Soapy Gannon's shoulder. "Hullo there!" came suddenly from a distance, and a moment later Si and Maybe Dixon burst into view, running at their best speed. "Hullo yourself!" shouted Mark. "You've come in the nick of time." "Didn't we see Sag Ruff and another man here?" questioned Si. "You did." "Where are they now?" "Run away." "Are you shot?" "No, but I think we had a narrow escape," answered Mark. They listened and heard Sag Ruff and Soapy Gannon talking at a distance. Soon they heard a splash, as the two men plunged into the river, and then all became silent. "They have run for it," said Bob. "And I must say I am glad of it." He was pale from excitement. "It was all my fault," said Si, as soon as the crowd had calmed down a little. "I went to sleep when I had no business to," and then he told his story. "We can be thankful we got the outfit back so quickly," said Maybe Dixon. "Had they gotten away for thirty or forty miles maybe we'd never have seen this mule an' wagon ag'in." "After this we must be on our guard," said Mark. "I know something to do," put in Bob. "Tie a small string to the wagon and run it to where we are sleeping. In the dark a thief won't see the string, and if he tries to pull away the wagon the string will pull somebody and wake him up." This, later on, was done, and worked very well. As soon as the excitement was over, the whole party pushed along near to the spot where Bob and Mark had left their game. Then the deer and the prairie hens were placed in the wagon and they went back to the camp at the ford. "I am hungry enough to eat anything!" declared Bob. "A bit of venison will taste prime."