A flash and a report from the bushes toward which the Ranger’s back was turned caused every one of the boys to jump.  Tad had his wits about him.

“Down!” he commanded.

“Oh, wow!  There it goes again,” moaned Stacy.  “They’re shooting at me again!”

Professor Zepplin had rolled into a depression in the ground, thus concealing his body from the unseen shooter.  But in the meantime Captain.  McKay had not been inactive.  It seemed as if the bullet that had been fired at him from the bushes had barely shrieked past his ear, when the captain wheeled.  His revolver—–­two of them—–­had appeared in his hands as if by magic.

Bang, bang! crashed the captain’s weapons as he whirled.  A yell sounded off there.  Captain McKay dashed toward the spot, followed by Tad on the jump.

“Stay back!” shouted the Ranger, but Tad did not obey.  He proposed to have a share in whatever trouble was before the brave Ranger captain.  Chunky had taken to the bush.  The others were lying flat on the ground.

As the captain ran he let go two more shots.  This time there was no answering yell from the bushes.  But he distinctly heard a crashing in there and drove in two more shots.  He charged the bushes utterly regardless of the peril to himself, with Tad Butler close behind him.  Tad had his revolver in hand, but he was cool headed enough not to indulge in any indiscriminate firing.

It was evident that either more than one man had been in the attacking party or else one who had been wounded had not been badly enough hurt to prevent his getting away.  Not a sign of a human being was the Ranger able to find, though his keen eyes soon picked up the trail.  He followed it a short distance, finally having reached soft ground, getting down on his knees and examining it critically.

When he looked up he found Tad standing over him.

“I thought I told you to stay back, young man?” he said sharply.

“I don’t like to stay back when there’s anything going on.  What do you find?”

“There were two of them.  Here’s where they mounted their ponies.  I wish I knew who they are.  You see those fellows are watching.”

“Watching you?”

“No.  They came here to clean out the Pony Rider Boys, I reckon,” laughed the Ranger.  “They didn’t expect to find me here.  But when they saw me they couldn’t let the opportunity go without taking a pot shot at me.  I moved—–­I stretched—–­just at the right second, or I’d have been a dead man before now.”

“The cowards!” breathed Tad, his eyes glowing angrily.

“Oh, yes, they’re all of that.  They shoot when the other fellow isn’t looking, and they shoot to kill.  But we might as well go back.  I could follow them, but it hardly is worth while.  They will be hidden long before we can run them down.  They’ll leave a blind trail pretty soon after they get far enough away to make it safe for them to stop and cover their tracks.”