I replied, ‘but a bunch of rustlers on bronchos could keep up without half trying.’

“I was heart sick, Virg, at the thought that some clever cattle thieves had made away with our prize stock. The distance that they had already traveled, if they were our yearlings, was so great I could have no hope of overtaking them. There was one thing that puzzled me. That rapidly moving cloud of sand was headed directly for the part of our desert that is called Burning Acres. Not a ranch nor a water hole for miles and miles and sure death awaits man, horse or cattle if they get stranded in that barren waste.

“I was deeply discouraged. However, as we descended the hill I said: ‘Lucky, it’s a lost hope I guess, but the most we can do is to pack enough grub to last a few days, take two extra mounts, all the canteens we can carry and head that way.’

“That’s what we did, which brings the story up to the hour of our departure.”

“Did you find any trace of our yearlings?” Virginia’s query was anxious, for she knew that herd had been the pride of her brother’s heart. The lad shook his head. “No,” he said, “we didn’t. We rode as far into the Burning Acres as we dared go. When our water supply was half gone, we turned back, knowing that we would need an equal amount on our return trip. We had ridden in silence for some time when Lucky said: ‘Malcolm, Ah don’t hold that notion about gypsies any more. Ah reckon the thieves was rustlers that knew their business. Ah figger the fellow that told that yarn to Davie was stringin’ him. Thar wan’t any wheeled caravan in these parts, of that Ah’m sure sartin.’

“I was glad that he had come around to my way of thinking, but just as we were leaving the Burning Acres, I saw Lucky, who was in the lead, leap from his horse and examine the sand. Then turning, he gestured, beckoning me to hurry.”

Malcolm paused. “What had he found?” Betsy asked. She was sitting so close to the edge of her chair that she seemed in danger of falling off.

“Well, when I reached the spot,” Malcolm knew that what he was going to tell would astonish his hearers, “I saw Lucky pointing triumphantly at what were unmistakable wheel tracks in the sand.”

“Brother, do you really think that a band of gypsies has ridden into those dreadful dry lands?”

“I don’t know, Virg. We couldn’t stop to investigate as we were out of water and so we returned to V. M. As it was noon, we 

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