"It looks to me like a wounded wolf. I never saw a wolf make such strange motions." "Quick! Look again. What do you see?" "By Jove!" said Ted slowly. "If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't have believed it. That is a wolf all right, but it seems to be waving something white at us. It doesn't seem to be able to move along. I wonder what it is." "Some trick, probably. Remember what Frederic Caruthers said about the Gray Wolves' visit, and the cleverness of the fellows?" "Yes. What do you think of it?" "I think it is a lure to excite our curiosity, and get us to go out there and fall into a trap." "That sounds reasonable." "You will notice that the wolf is just over the top of a rise on the prairie. The question is, What is beyond the rise, in the hollow?" "I'm going out to find out." "I wouldn't if I were you, Ted." "Why?" "I'm afraid it's a trap, and that you'll fall into it." "We'll never find out what it is if we don't go out there." "That's a cinch, and that's just what they want you to do." "Well, I'm going." Kit knew that when Ted said anything in the tone of voice he had just used he meant it, and that it was useless to argue with him. "All right, go as far as you like," he said. "I'll keep my eye on you, and if anything happens I'll sound the warning." Stella and the other members of the Moon Valley outfit were resting against the time when they would be called to duty, and only Kit was there to see Ted catch Sultan out of the corral, saddle him, and ride away. Ted rode slowly across the prairie to where he had seen the wolf. But the wolf had disappeared from view just as Ted started from the corral, and Kit could see it no more. He took this for a bad omen. Evidently, the wolf had seen that he had lured a rider from the ranch house, and, having accomplished its purpose, it was no longer necessary to expose itself to attack. As Ted drew nearer to the spot where he had seen the wolf he went more slowly, and carefully examined his revolvers, and swung his knife sheath loose, so that he could get at that weapon quickly, if it became necessary. Although he looked carefully to the front, he could not see the wolf. Kit saw that Ted had missed the place where the wolf had been seen, and that he was too far to the right. He observed, also, that Ted was going cautiously, and that he was preparing for an attack, and he was sure that Ted would be able to take care of himself against fair odds. Now Ted went forward again and soon gained the top of the rise. He went very cautiously, peering over the edge. Suddenly he sprang back and whipped out his revolver, and slowly let himself out of his saddle. "Ted's found him," muttered Kit in the cupola to Stella, who had climbed up to his side to learn how the watch was going. "Let me have the glass, Kit," she said. Kit handed it to her, and she trained it on the figure of Ted, who was creeping along the top of the hill.