"Not knowing where to do so, might it not be wise to back up a little ?" "What do you mean ?" asked Grace.
"Move away from the trail and into the thicket where we shall be both out of sight and probably on no man's land, as it were." "The suggestion is good, though I do not wholly approve of the idea of getting into a pocket where we cannot see about us," agreed Grace.

"Our mysterious friend must know what he is talking about when he advises us to go to Thompson's farm, as some one urged Hippy to do." "He seemed to think we would be safer here," nodded Lieutenant Wingate.
"So far as my observation goes--has gone for the last couple of years--safety is not the one great ambition of our young lives.

At least, getting into difficulties and perilous situations has become a habit with Grace Harlowe," declared Miss Briggs.
"Yes, for instance, roping bandits with that Mexican lasso that the cowboys gave her last season," suggested Emma.

"Why aren't you throwing it more?
I have seen you swing it only once since we started." Grace said that she had practiced with the rope nearly all winter, and declared that it was about time that the rest of the party took up throwing the lasso.

Elfreda, as related in a previous volume, "GRACE HARLOWE'S OVERLAND RIDERS ON THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT," also had learned to throw the lasso and could do so quite well, but since her winter's practice with it Grace had gained much skill and was far ahead of her friend in its manipulation.