However the alarm proved to be a false one, for, after waiting some time, Snake not having appeared, it was surmised that some rock had become loose and rolled down the steep side of the gulch. The waiters and watchers were just beginning to get a bit worried, and Bud was on the point of suggesting that he be allowed to go look for Snake, when the cowboy came back. So quietly did he approach, and so unexpected was his appearance that Nort and Dick, on whose side of the improvised "fort" Snake first showed himself, were startled. "If that had been any of the Del Pinzo crowd they'd have been on top of us before we knew it," confessed Nort. "Not much!" laughed Bud. "Slim has seen Snake coming along this last three minutes; haven't you, Slim?" "Yep! I noticed him, but I didn't say anythin'," acknowledged the foreman. "I seen that he was alone. But what's the verdict, Snake?" he asked, anxiously. "Are they gittin' ready t' come at us here, or are they leavin'?" "Neither one," was the answer, "but they're gettin' ready to do suthin! They're all in a bunch in the middle of that place, holdin' a confab, I reckon. It's hard to say what they are up to. But I got a hunch that if we rushed 'em we could throw a scare int' 'em, anyhow." "Do you think they know we're here?" asked Bud. "Oh, sure!" was the answer. "At least they saw us an' heard us when we reached that crack. But of course they can only guess what we're up to now, when we didn't rush 'em first shot. They might have known, though, what our plans was, if I hadn't cracked their spy on the head!" said Snake, calmly. "You did what?" asked Slim. "Just as I got t' th' place where I could look in," went on the cowboy, "I saw one of them Greasers up t' the same trick I was tryin' to pull off. He was sneakin' down this way, but I saw him first. Caught a glimpse of his head around the edge of a rock; I just reached out with my gun and tapped him on the noodle." "Kill him?" asked Dick. "No. Guess not. Just stretched him out so he can't go back an' tell any tales for a time. Now the way I figger it is this: They'll be waitin' for a report on what their spy sees, same as you was waitin' for me t' come back. Only their spy won't show up for a couple o' hours, an' that gives us a chance to act." "What had we better do?" asked Yellin' Kid. "Rush 'em!" instantly decided Snake. "Let's git t' that openin' as quiet as we can, an' rush right for 'em! This rest has freshened our horses, an' we're in better shape now." "Not so much so, as far as horses go," dubiously declared Slim. "They're pretty badly spent, and can't do much racin'. But I guess maybe it is better for us t' get into action, instid of waitin' for that bunch t' come here. As Snake says, they'll be lookin' for their spy t' come back, an' maybe we can take 'em unawares."