There he hesitated.

Men who left crooked trails frequently ambushed them, and Belllounds had made no effort to conceal his tracks.

Indeed, he had chosen the soft, open ground, even after he had left the trail to take to the grassy, wooded benches.

There were cattle here, but not as many as on the more open aspen slopes across the valley.

After deliberating a moment, Wade decided that he must risk being caught trailing Belllounds.
But he would go slowly, trusting to eye and ear, to outwit this strangely acting foreman of White Slides Ranch.
To that end he dismounted and took the trail.