"A strange coin," cried Walt.
"Not so blamed strange, either," said Pete, picking it off the boy's
palm and examining it. "It's a Mexican peso."
"Then the men who were here were Mexicans?" cried Jack.
"Not so fast, my boy," admonished Pete. "Might as well say that every
feller who finds a Canadian dime in his pocket is a Kanuck. Say," he
suggested suddenly, "suppose you boys jes' see if you can find any
tracks around the base of the mesa."
They scattered and looked carefully about them, but the bunch-grass
grew in quite a broad belt all about, and no footmarks could be
discerned. Nor did a careful examination of the grass show any broken
or trampled blades, as would have been the case had ponies been there
recently.
"That decides it," announced Pete, after this last fact had been
ascertained, "whoever made those foot-marks wasn't here recent, that's
a fact. But who could they have been, and what brought them here?"
"Maybe Indians," suggested Ralph sagely.
"Yep, if Indians wore boots, which they don't," grinned Pete, while
poor Ralph colored to the roots of his hair over the general laugh that
arose at his expense.
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