The Prairie Detective: Secret Service Series No. 24 — page 151: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE PRAIRIE DETECTIVE.. 149 They were soon mounted and away, intersecting the trail of the fugitive robbers some miles distant. -~ Their horses were comparatively fresh, and during the day they made good headway, stopping only long enough to lunch at noon, and then pressing straight forward. At night, however, they rested nearly nine hours, and were on the march again early the following morning. About five in the afternoon they reached the edge of the river where the robbers had entered the water. As darkness was coming on rapidly they did not go. farther that day, because it would have been difficult in the uncertain light to discover where the party in advance had left the water. But as soon as the first faint streaks of dawn showed themselves upon the horizon they resumed their journey, and at about ten o’clock they reached the flat rock where Persimmon Bill’s men had . changed the shoes on their horses. Vixen, who had been trotting along the bank of the river, far in advance of her master, was the first to find the trail where it came up out of the water, and she stood sounding her weird signal until the _ three friends came up. . - > “wv : ; 4 * ° ~~ > os ; » « a.” ne a i i Thus far the trail of the robbers had led due west. ~ What, then, was the surprise of the pursuers to ob- serve that on the bank of the river it suddenly turned back again toward the rising sun. “They hev doubled on us, an’ no mistake,’ said Ryan, with a rueful expression. “Hf we’d only a knowed it we might hev cut acrost an’ headed ’em off. But ez itis, I can’t see any use 0’ wastin’ time repinin’ over our sorrers. Hf we’re goin’ to ketch ,em we must be at it.”’ While the party stood talking on the bank of the com ; - “~ comicbooks