I calc'late mebby we better crawl our bosses 'n' do some ridin' ourselves, boys." And he added grimly, "They ain't in good shootin' distance yit, 'n' they dassent show theirselves neither.

We'll keep in this draw long as we kin.

They're bound t' come careful till they git us located." The footing was none the best, but the horses they rode had been running over untracked mesa-land since they were bandy-legged colts.

They loped along easily, picking automatically the safest places whereon to set their feet, and leaving their riders free to attend to other important matters which proved their true value as horses that knew their business.
Soon the draw shallowed until they found themselves out in the open, with the square-topped mountain five miles or so ahead and a little to the left; a high, untraversable sandstone ledge to their right, and what looked like plain sailing straight ahead past the mountain.
Applehead twisted his body in the saddle and gave a grunt.

"Throw some lead back at them hombres, Lite," he snapped.