“Wal, if I don’t disremember he was born in a prairie-schooner, comin’ across the plains.  His mother was a full-blood, an’ come from Louisiana.”

“That accounts for an instinct I see croppin’ out in Kane,” rejoined Wade.  “He likes to trail a man.  I’ve caught him doin’ it.  An’ he doesn’t take to huntin’ lions or bear.  Why, the other day, when the hounds treed a lion an’ went howlin’ wild, Kane came up, an’ he looked disgusted an’ went off by himself.  He hunts by himself, anyhow.  First off I thought he might be a sheep-killer.  But I reckon not.  He can trail men, an’ that’s about all the good he is.  His mother must have been a slave-hunter, an’ Kane inherits that trailin’ instinct.”

“Ahuh!  Wal, train him on trailin’ men, then.  I’ve seen times when a dog like thet’d come handy.  An’ if he takes to Collie an’ you approve of him, let her have him.  She’s been coaxin’ me fer a dog.”

“That isn’t a bad idea.  Miss Collie walks an’ rides alone a good deal, an’ she never packs a gun.”

“Funny about thet,” said Belllounds.  “Collie is game in most ways, but she’d never kill anythin’....  Wade, you ain’t thinkin’ she ought to stop them lonesome walks an’ rides?”

“No, sure not, so long as she doesn’t go too far away.”

“Ahuh!  Wal, supposin’ she rode up out of the valley, west on the Black Range?”

“That won’t do, Belllounds,” replied Wade, seriously.  “But Miss Collie’s not goin’ to, for I’ve cautioned her.  Fact is I’ve run across some hard-lookin’ men between here an’ Buffalo Park.  They’re not hunters or prospectors or cattlemen or travelers.”

“Wal, you don’t say!” rejoined Belllounds.  “Now, Wade, are you connectin’ up them strangers with the stock I missed on this last round-up?”

“Reckon I can’t go as far as that,” returned Wade.  “But I didn’t like their looks.”

“Thet comin’ from you, Wade, is like the findin’s of a jury....  It’s gettin’ along toward October.  Snow’ll be flyin’ soon.  You don’t reckon them strangers will winter in the woods?”

“No, I don’t.  Neither does Lewis.  You recollect him?”

“Yes, thet prospector who hangs out around Buffalo Park, lookin’ fer gold.  He’s been hyar.  Good fellar, but crazy on gold.”

“I’ve met Lewis several times, one place and another.  I lost the hounds day before yesterday.  They treed a lion an’ Lewis heard the racket, an’ he stayed with them till I come up.  Then he told me some interestin’ news.  You see he’s been worryin’ about this gang thet’s rangin’ around Buffalo Park, an’ he’s tried to get a line on them.  Somebody took a shot at him in the woods.  He couldn’t swear it was one of that outfit, but he could swear he wasn’t near shot by accident.  Now Lewis says these men pack to an’ fro from Elgeria, an’ he has a hunch they’re in cahoots with Smith, who runs a place there.  You know Smith?”

“No, I don’t, an’ haven’t any wish to,” declared Belllounds, shortly.  “He always looked shady to me.  An’ he’s not been square with friends of mine in Elgeria.  But no one ever proved him crooked, whatever was thought.  Fer my part, I never missed a guess in my life.  Men don’t have scars on their face like his fer nothin’.”