.

FOLLOWING THE DIM TRAILS!.
Thurston did not go on the horse roundup.

He explained to the boys, when they clamored against his staying, that he had a host of things to write, and it would keep him busy till they were ready to start with the wagons for the big rendezvous on the Yellowstone, the exact point of which had yet to be decided upon by the Stock Association when it met.
The editors were after him, he said, and if he ever expected to get anywhere, in a literary sense, it be-hooved him to keep on the smiley side of the editors.
That sounded all right as far as it went, but unfortunately it did not go far.

The boys winked at one another gravely behind his back and jerked their thumbs knowingly toward Milk River; by which pantomime they reminded one another--quite unnecessarily that Mona Stevens had come home.

However, they kept their skepticism from becoming obtrusive, so that Thurston believed his excuses passed on their face value.