The comparative safety of the trail had given way to a heavy tangle of underbrush which made the riding extremely dangerous. Still, the boys had for consolation the fact that it was as bad for the rustlers as it was for them. Gradually it came to Roy that the chase was hopeless unless they could tell which way the thieves had gone. He motioned to Teddy to stop, and the two boys listened intently. There was no sound of cracking twigs, no noise of distant crashing of horses’ feet through the forest. All was silent. “Seems like we’ve lost them,” Roy said, a note of despair in his voice. Teddy settled deeper in his saddle and blew out his breath in a long sigh. The world seemed especially dark at that moment. After that long, hard ride, with success almost in their grasp, to have failed now! The boy took off his hat and ran his fingers through his damp hair, then let his arm drop heavily down to his side in a gesture of despondency. “It’s tough luck!” he said in a dull voice. “Pretty tough luck! We almost had ’em!” “If I hadn’t fallen we might have caught ’em,” Roy declared regretfully. “I could kick myself! Pulling a stunt like that!” “Aw, it wasn’t your fault,” Teddy said in rough sympathy. He tried to cover up the memory of how his heart had leaped into his throat when Roy crashed to the ground. Teddy looked over at his brother. Their eyes met. Then Roy knew how Teddy had felt while he, himself, was lying in the brush. “Well, we can’t do much here,” Teddy said, moving uneasily in the saddle. “Let’s go back. It’s getting late.” “I’ll tell a maverick it is! And I’m hungry. Besides, dad’ll be worried. When we started up that left fork, I thought dad and the rest might hear us and follow. But I guess they were too far ahead. Well, the best thing we can do now is to find him and tell him what we saw. Maybe we’ll be able to pick up the trail of our lost broncs when we get back on the path.” Looking up at the sun to make sure of their direction, the boys rode slowly back toward the path. After the excitement of the pursuit, the reaction had set in, and both felt low in spirits. The fact that they had had no dinner contributed not a little to their depression. The horses, heads held low, picked their way through the brush. They, too, were tired and thirsty. For a long time neither of the boys spoke. At length Teddy licked his lips and remarked: “I’m mighty dry, Roy. Seems to me there’s a spring around here somewhere. Remember it?” “Sort of. Not just sure where it is, though. I’ll--” He stopped. To his ears came a peculiar buzzing, like the sound of some giant locust. The horses heard it at the same instant, and they swerved about and would have bolted but for the firm hands of their riders. Teddy peered sharply down at a large gray boulder that lay half imbedded in the soil, a deep, wide gash running from one end of it to the other.