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Rh "Something has happened to them," he said to Fetter. "Perhaps we had better send somebody off on the trail to find out what's up."

So it was agreed, and Fetter was the man chosen for the mission.

As may have been surmised by some of my readers, the other party had gone off to watch for old Benson and make him a prisoner. The crowd numbered three, and were desperadoes well acquainted with that territory.

The old scout had spent several hours in a vain endeavor to locate some buffalo, when, on resting in the crotch of a tree, he saw the desperadoes approaching.

The rascals were tired out with their search for the scout, and came to a halt directly under the tree.

"It's a fool errand," old Benson heard one of the men say. "Matt Gilroy ought to have been satisfied with corraling Captain Moore and those boys."

"The captain wants to make a grand round up," answered another of the men. "He told me that if we missed Benson the scout might make trouble."

Benson listened to this conversation with intense interest, and soon learned the truth—that Captain Moore was already a prisoner, and that