At the moment she made the sharp turn to the left, another horseman galloped up the opposite slope and off upon the prairie.  By an amazing coincidence it happened that he was in the arroya, and in the act of crossing in the same direction with the fugitive, when the furious plunge of the mare sent his own bounding up the farther bank.

Sterry caught the situation like a flash.  Before Queenie had gone more than a half-dozen rods he brought her to a standstill.  They resembled an equestrian statue, so motionless were they for a full minute.

The converging parties of pursuers could plainly see the second horseman speeding away from the other side, and inevitably concluded that he was the inspector whom they wanted.  They were after him hot-footed on the instant.

This man was Ira Inman, a well-known rustler, and the intimate friend of Larch Cadmus.  When he saw himself pursued by a half-dozen of his friends he reined up, and calmly but wonderingly awaited their arrival, which took place within the next few seconds.

“Up with your hands!  Quick about it, too!  You’re the man we want!”

“Wal,” replied the leader, surveying them with a grin, and paying no heed to their fierce commands, “now that you’ve got me, what are you going to do with me?”

If there ever were a set of dumbfounded men, they were the rustlers who closed about the leader and recognized him in the moonlight.  The remarks that followed his identification were as ludicrous as they were vigourous.

The majority believed he had played a trick on them in pretending to be Mont Sterry, whom all were so anxious to bring down; but there were one or two who were not satisfied.  They knew the voice of the inspector, which in no way resembled the gruff tones of Inman.  Then, their leader was not given to practical jokes.

“What set you to hunting me so hard?” he asked, after the first flurry was over.

“We’re looking for Mont Sterry.”

“Wal, what made you take me for him?  Do I look like him in the moonlight?”

“But you said you were, and fired at us,” explained one.

“Fired at you?  Said I was that chap?  What in the mischief are you driving at?”

One, who suspected the truth, now interposed.

“We did meet Sterry and hailed him; you must have heard our guns; he dashed into the arroya; we saw you gallop out on t’other side, and took you for him.”

“Ah, I understand it all now,” replied Inman; “I had ridden down there on my way back from a little scout, when a horseman dashed into the slope behind me like a thunderbolt.  My horse was so scared that he went up the other side on the jump, and before I could turn around to find out what it all meant, you lunkheads came down on me with the request to oblige you by throwing up my hands, which I will see you hanged before I’ll do.”

“But where is he?  What has become of him?” asked several, looking around, as thought they expected to see the young man ride forward and surrender himself.