CHAPTER II

A MAN'S CURIOSITY

By the time Sanderson urged the brown horse up the crest of the slope,
the men he had determined to follow were far out in the desert.
Sanderson could see them, though the distance was considerable, riding
the crest of a ridge, directly northeastward. As that was following
the general direction in which Sanderson wanted to travel he was highly
pleased.

"They're company," he told himself as he rode; "an' I've been a heap
lonesome."

The men were not traveling fast. At times, when the first rider was
compelled to traverse high ground, Sanderson could see him--horse and
rider faintly outlined against the sky. Sanderson would note the
figure of the first rider, then watch the point at which the first
rider appeared until the others reached that point. Then, noting the
elapsed time, he could estimate the distance at which the pursuers
followed.

"I reckon they're gainin' on him," was Sanderson's mental comment when
an hour later he saw the first rider appear for a moment on the sky
line, vanish, reappear for an instant, only to be followed within a few
minutes by the figures of the other men.

Sanderson was closing up the space that separated him from the two men,
and by that medium he knew they were not traveling rapidly, for the
brown horse was loping slowly. Thus he knew that the first man was not