"'They will be near the water hole at noon. All three have money.'" "Well, what do you make of it?" asked Tubby in a puzzled tone. "I don't see the connection, quite." "It's plain enough. I've heard that these Indians are placid enough if they are not interfered with and given money. That fellow Clark knew they were somewhere hereabouts--you remember he asked Harry about them yesterday. He and Jess Randell left Mesaville early, so as to meet them and bribe them to hold us up." "But can the Indians read English writing?" asked Tubby. "Yes. Most of the present generation have been to government schools and are comparatively well educated." "Hooray for education!" shouted Tubby. "They sure are promising scholars." There came a sudden shout from above. "Hey, what's the matter with you fellows, anyhow? You've been gone almost an hour." Harry Harkness stood at the edge of the dip, looking down at the excited boys. "An hour isn't the only thing that's gone," wailed Tubby; "all our change has gone, too." When the laugh at Tubby's whimsical way of putting it had subsided, the situation was explained to Harry, who agreed that there was nothing to be done. "We had better be pushing on as fast as possible, though," he said; "there's no knowing when those fellows may wake up to the fact that we have more money about us and come back after it." A hasty lunch was cooked and eaten, and the mules watered with a bucket of water each. This done, the team was once more hitched, and Jose, who had in the meantime dropped off to sleep again, awakened. But as the Mexican cracked his whip, and his long-eared charges began to move, a sudden surprise occurred. From a little dip ahead a horseman suddenly appeared and hailed the boys. He was a tall, bearded man in regulation plainsman's costume, and his sun-burned face was shielded by a broad sombrero. On his face was a look of determination and self-reliance. As the boys looked at him they felt that here was a man of action and character. "Hullo, strangers," he said, checking the splendid horse he rode, as the mules came to a stop. "Have you seen anything of any Moquis hereabout?" "Why, yes," responded Rob; "they----" "Saw us to the extent of all our small change," put in Tubby. "Mine, too!" wailed the Mexican. "Mucho malo Indiano." "What! you have been robbed by them?" "Feels that way," said Tubby, patting his empty pockets. "That's too bad," said the man. "I am Jeffries Mayberry, the Indian agent from the reservation. I am trying to round those fellows up without making a lot of trouble over it, and having the papers get hold of the story and print exaggerated accounts of an uprising. They are really harmless if they don't get hold of liquor." "Or money," put in Tubby. "Well, as far as we know, they swept off to the southeast," said Rob.