Butler galloped back to where his companions were standing anxiously awaiting him.

“We are wasting time, Tad,” cried the professor as the lad rode up.  “It is my opinion that we had better ride into that canyon there and make camp in some secluded spot where we shall not be easily found.”

“I am afraid that won’t help us any, Professor,” said Tad.  “How could we expect to hide ourselves in there so completely that a mountaineer would not find us?  No, sir, it is my opinion that our only safety lies out there in the open, at least for the rest of the afternoon and the night.”

“What, ride out there to be shot up again?” demanded Stacy.  “No, sir, not for Stacy Brown!  I’ve been shot up once.  I don’t propose to make a bull’s-eye of myself again.”

“Stacy is right, boys.  It would be foolishness to follow such a course and—–­”

“Wait till you hear my plan, sir,” urged Butler.

“We will hear it.  Proceed.”

“Out yonder about a quarter of a mile from the base of the rocks is a depression in the plain.  If we can reach it we shall be safe—–­”

“Yes, if we can reach it,” repeated Ned.

“In doing so we should be shot in all probability,” objected Professor Zepplin.

“I think not, sir.”

“Explain what you mean?”

“From the position occupied by the man or men when they fired at us out there, I am sure they could not see us were we to follow the course I went out on just now.  If you will ride down to the edge of the foothills with me and wait there, I will gallop out and prove my theory.”

“What do you mean?” questioned the professor.

“I will see if I can draw their fire,” answered Tad.

Professor Zepplin shook his head.

“Too risky!”

“It certainly is risky to stay here.  Listen, sir.  If that man wants to get us he surely will be creeping down on our position before long.  We are in greater peril here, where we can’t see anything on one side of us, than we would be out there where we have an unobstructed view on all sides.  My plan is to make camp out in the hollow; then we will place a guard over the camp, keeping a sharp watch all through the night.  By morning we’ll be able to find out what is in the wind.”

“I won’t move a step,” declared Stacy stubbornly.

“You will do whatever seems best to the rest of us,” answered the professor sternly.  Then, after a moment’s thought, he added, “I am inclined, upon second thought, to agree with Tad.  We will try the plan.”

“Good.  Follow me.  Get that pony, Chunky.  I told you once before to catch him.  We’ll be in a fine mess if you lose your mount.”

“I’d rather lose my mount than to lose my precious life,” answered the fat boy surlily.

By this time the others were taking to their saddles.  The faces of all wore serious expressions.  They had not looked for anything quite so lively as this.  It was not the first time the Pony Rider Boys had smelled powder when the powder was being expended on them, but they liked it none the better for past experiences.