“Now I’m goin’ to show you three of the prettiest ponies you ever saw,” he declared. “Whenever I go to the city I always have Roy or Teddy meet me with General, so’s I can ride back on him. I suppose you tied ’em in the usual place, Teddy?” he asked. “I sure did, Dad,” Teddy answered. “Tied right on the old rail.” With a smile of anticipation on his face, Mr. Manley stepped forward. Then he paused, and those behind him heard him give a gasp of surprise. “Why,” he said in a puzzled tone, “what’s this? A joke?” Roy and Teddy stepped quickly forward. Their eyes stared at the rail. Where the ponies had stood, there remained nothing but the hoofprints in the soft dirt of the spot! The horses were gone! CHAPTER III A PUNCHER IN A CHECKERED SHIRT Roy craned his neck forward, eyes wide. Mr. Manley stood with hands on hips, legs spread, staring intently at the vacant hitching rail. The corncob pipe drooped at a downward angle. Teddy passed the back of his hand over his forehead, pushing back his hat. “Why, that’s funny,” he said in a dazed voice. “They don’t seem to be here.” “They--they must have wandered off,” Roy said uncertainly. “Queer. They were all tied tight. I wonder--” “You mean to say they were here, and now they’re gone?” Mr. Manley asked, a new note creeping into his voice. “The horses were here, all right,” Teddy declared unevenly. “I can’t understand it.” “Well, I can!” Mr. Manley cried. His eyes were blazing. “They’ve been stolen! Those ponies ain’t the kind to wander around, once they’re tied up. They’ve been stolen an’ nothin’ less!” he thundered. “What happened? Is something the matter?” Nell asked, as she and Ethel faced Mr. Manley. “You bet there’s something the matter!” the cattleman roared. “There’s a whole lot the matter! My hoss has been taken right from under my nose--stolen from Eagles in broad daylight! What kind of a town is this, anyway? Hey you!” He strode over to a cowboy who was leaning against the door jamb at Rimor’s. Roy and Teddy realized that he was the man they had noticed when they reached town. “You know anything about three hosses that were tied to that rail?” The puncher tilted his head back, and looked insolently out from under the rim of his hat. “What hosses?” “_My_ hosses! Those boys over there tied them to the rail. Now they’re gone! You see anything of ’em?” “Nope.” “How long you been here?” “Not so long.” “You were here when we rode in!” Teddy cried hotly, crossing the street. “He must have seen them, Dad; he’s been there for half an hour. The ponies were stolen while Roy and I came around to the front of the station to watch for the train.” The puncher turned his head lazily and stared coldly at Teddy. “You’re, mebby, one of them correspondence school detectives, hey?” he sneered.