"Whoever is throwing rocks of that size--quit!" shouted Noll, wheeling to his left and glaring at an irregularly-shaped ledge some sixty yards away. "Let's see who it is, anyway," cried Hal, darting toward the ledge. By the time they reached the ledge they heard some lively scrambling among the rocks beyond, but neither rookie could see anyone. All was quiet for a few moments. Then a foot slipped on a stone, at a little distance. Hal raced straight in the direction of the sound. He was in time to see a crouching, running figure darting in and out among the rocks. "Come on, Noll! We've got him!" yelled Hal. In another minute they had overtaken the fugitive, who now stood panting at bay. "Well, you're a nice one!" ejaculated Private Hal Overton. "Tip Branders--out here in Colorado!" ejaculated Noll Terry. "No; my name ain't Branders. Ye've got me mixed up with somebody else!" glowered the young man at bay. CHAPTER XVI THE MYSTERY OF POST THREE "OH, no, your name isn't Tip Branders!" mocked Hal Overton. "That's what I said," retorted the young man at bay. "Then how do you know who we are?" "I don't know who ye are, and what's more, I don't care," retorted the other. "Tip, I guess you've forgotten to write home lately," broke in Noll. "What would you say if you should hear that your uncle in Australia had died and left your mother more than two million dollars?" The young man's eyes opened very wide indeed. He gasped, and then his eyes flashed eagerly. "Has the old lady all that money?" he demanded. "Noll Terry, what else do you know about it?" The young man came briskly forward now, all trembling with eagerness. "I don't know anything at all about it," retorted Noll coolly, "and I don't believe it either." "But you said----" "Oh, Tip, what an idiot you are to think you can deny your identity to us," jeered Noll, while Hal laughed merrily. "Say, if you're trying to have sport with me," snarled Tip, "I'll----" "Is it your idea of sport to shy rocks at us?" demanded Private Hal. "I didn't shy anything at you," asserted Tip sullenly. "Why, for that matter," Hal went on jeeringly, "I don't suppose you'll even admit that you're here, at all?" "Don't get too festive, just because you've got the government's blue clothes on," Tip retorted sullenly. "A plain, ordinary soldier ain't such a much." "Opinions may differ about that, of course," Hal admitted. "But being a soldier was too much of a job for you to get a chance at, wasn't it, Tip?" "I'm just as well suited as it is," rejoined Tip, flushing a bit, none the less. "You haven't told us what you're doing out in this country," Noll suggested. "And I don't know that it's any of your business, either," Branders went on. "Ain't nothing to be ashamed of, though. You know I used to travel a bit with the political crowd at home." "With the heelers of the city," Noll amended. Tip scowled, but continued: