Evincing a lively Interest in the two Eastern boys, the Three Stars’ owner plied them with questions about Ohio and was so impressed with their answers that he extended a cordial invitation to them and the Wilder boys to pay him a visit at his ranch, promising to have his men give an exhibition of “broncho busting” for their special benefit, an invitation which all four eagerly accepted.

Just as they were ready to rise from the table Hop Joy glided in.

“Nail, he backee,” he announced.  “Say he got heap talkee.”

“Tell him to come round to the veranda,” ordered Mr. Wilder.  “By the way, how are you coming along with the cooking, Hop Joy?”

“Allee lightee.  Bymeby, two hours maybe.”

“Well, don’t be any longer.  The sooner Ned can start, the sooner he’ll reach the Pool.”

In answer the celestial bowed low, then turned and left the room.

CHAPTER XII

WHAT NAILS LEARNED

While the ranchmen and Mrs. Wilder made themselves comfortable in chairs, the boys squatted or stretched out on the piazza, their restlessness proclaiming the expectancy with which they awaited the “heap talkee” Nails desired to impart.

The cowboy soon appeared, and, after seating himself at Mr. Wilder’s bidding, launched into an account of what he had learned in Tolopah.

“There are twenty of them in the gang,” he said, “and Megget has joined them by this time, though he wasn’t with them when they made the raids.  As near as I could make out, their headquarters are in the Lost Lode Mine.  There are three trails to it, one leading in somewhere near the trail you all took on your hunting trip and the others to the south, along which they drive the cattle they steal.  I——­”

“Mr. Wilder, you don’t suppose that could be the trail where I saw those men crossing the face of the cliff, do you?” interrupted Tom.

“I shouldn’t doubt it a bit.  I’d forgotten about them entirely.”  And he briefly told Snider of the figures they all had seen, adding:  “Much obliged for reminding me, Tom.  That may have been Megget and the fellows you met with him.  Go on, Nails; anything more?”

“Nothing but that it’s my opinion they have a spy in Tolopah who keeps ’em mighty well informed on the happenings at the Half-Moon and Three Stars ranches.”

At the words Mr. Wilder and his neighbor exchanged significant glances.

“What makes you think so?” the latter asked.  “Where did you learn all this, anyhow?”

“Oh, just nosing round,” drawled Nails, but his tone suggested that he was sure of his information and at the same time unwilling to disclose its source.

“You certainly did well, Nails,” complimented his master.  “Knowing how many there are in the gang will enable us to lay definite plans for action.  Now go and get your supper.  I suppose you have seen the boys from the Three Stars in the bunkhouse?”