Page:The Cross Pull.pdf/243

 treat. Even then they could travel about in twos and threes with little chance of being seen and even less of being recognized.

Every night Flash went back to the cabin and every morning Betty sent him back to Moran. They were now far from home and the round trip was a long one, but it meant no hardship for Flash as the two men proceed slowly by day, covering only eight miles on an average.

The fourth morning of the hunt they broke camp at the head of the Yellowstone and rode downstream. Their intention was to work the divide between that stream and the Buffalo Fork of the Snake. Pacific Creek flows from Two Ocean Pass to the Snake while Atlantic Creek drains the opposite slope to the Yellowstone, joining it some ten miles from the head of the river. They rode down to the junction and turned up Atlantic Creek to follow the game trails up to the crest of the divide. They left their horses in the heavy timber near the mouth of the creek which was some five miles nearer their base of supplies than the spot where they had camped the previous night.

A well worn game trail led up the creek from the broad meadows of the Yellowstone. Here too were many signs of men and evidence that