In the ascent of the foot-hills the dogs led the posse, six in number, a merry chase.  As they gradually rose to higher altitudes the trail of the robbers was more compact and easy to follow, except for the roughness of the mountain slope.  Frequently the trail was but a single narrow path.  Old game trails, where the elk and deer, drifting in the advance of winter, crossed the range, had been followed by the robbers.  These game trails were certain to lead to the passes in the range.  Thus, by the instinct given to the deer and elk against the winter’s storm, the humblest of His creatures had blazed for these train robbers an unerring pathway to the mountain’s pass.

Along these paths the trail was so distinct that the dogs were an unnecessary adjunct to the pursuing party.  These hounds, one of which was a veteran in the service, while the other two, being younger, were without that practice which perfects, showed an exuberance of energy and ambition in following the trail.  The ancestry of the dogs was Russian.  Hounds of this breed never give mouth, thus warning the hunted of their approach.  Man-hunting is exciting sport.  The possibility, though the trail may look hours old, that any turn of the trail may disclose the fugitives, keeps at the highest tension every nerve of the pursuer.

All day long the marshal and posse climbed higher and higher on the rugged mountainside.  Night came on as they reached the narrow plateau that formed the crest of the mountain, on which they found several small parks.  Here they made the first halt since the start in the morning.  The necessity of resting their saddle stock was very apparent to Banks, though he would gladly have pushed on.  The only halt he could expect of the robbers was to save their own horses, and he must do the same.  Forcing a tired horse an extra hour has left many an amateur rider afoot.  He realized this.  Knowing the necessity of being well mounted, the robbers had no doubt splendid horses.  This was a reasonable supposition.

Near midnight the marshal and posse set out once more on the trail.  He was compelled to take it afoot now, depending on his favorite dog, which was under leash, the posse following with the mounts.  The dogs led them several miles southward on this mountain crest.  Here was where the dogs were valuable.  The robbers had traveled in some places an entire mile over lava beds, not leaving as much as a trace which the eye could detect.  Having the advantage of daylight, the robbers selected a rocky cliff, over which they began the descent of the western slope of this range.  The ingenuity displayed by them to throw pursuit from their trail marked Peg-Leg as an artist in his calling.  But with the aid of dogs and the dampness of night, their trail was as easily followed as though it had been made in snow.