Tom and Sam had gone after the Baxters, with Jack Wumble behind them while the last man of the party turned to collar Roebuck. But Roebuck was game, and fired at his assailant, who fired in return, and each man was slightly wounded in the shoulder. Then Roebuck disappeared in the woods back of the old hotel, and that was the last seen of him for the time being. The hunt for the Baxters was kept up until nearly nightfall. But they remained in hiding, and although Tom and Sam passed within fifty feet of the hollow, they were not discovered. "They have given us the slip," said Tom, "It's too bad! I thought we had them, sure!" As soon as the search was over it was discovered that two of the horses were missing. The several pistol shots had frightened them away, and in the gathering darkness they could not be located. The entire party camped that night in the old hotel, and Tom showed where he had been a prisoner, and how he had escaped up the chimney. Noxton was not dangerously wounded, and the men did what they could to allay the pain he was suffering. Yet they had little sympathy for him, for, as stated before, horse stealing in that locality was considered one of the worst of crimes. "But we'll take ye back to the county seat," said Yates. "And ye shall have a fair trial." "Take all I have, but let me go!" pleaded Noxton, but to this the men with Yates would not listen. Early in the morning the party under Yates set off, taking Noxton along, although the criminal protested that he was too weak to ride. It may be as well to add here that, later on, Noxton, alias Slinky Bill, was tried in court and given a sentence of five years for his misdeeds. Jack Wumble and Sam had brought along Dick's horse, and they now took good care that the animal should not get away from them. Where to look for Dick, however, was a poser. "Well, I'll tell you one thing," Tom declared, "I'm not going on to Larkspur Creek until he is found." "Or until we have found out what has become of him," added Sam. "He may be dead, you know." "I reckon we had best go back to where he took his tumble," said Wumble. "If he escaped he'll come back thar himself, more'n likely." This appeared to be good advice, and an hour after the departure of Yates and the others they mounted and set off. Less than half a mile had been covered when, of a sudden, there came a shot, and a bullet cut through the brush beside them. "Hullo! this won't do!" cried the old miner. "Come out of sight, an' be putty quick about it, too!" They rode into a patch of wood and halted. But no more shots came, nor could they locate that which had been fired. "One thing is certain, at least one of yer enemies is a-watching of us," was the old miner's comment. "We'll keep behind shelter after this." And they did. It was hard traveling, and poor Sam was utterly worn out by the time the trail along the watercourse was again reached.