The Prairie Detective: Secret Service Series No. 24 — page 108: what you’re looking at

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

106 THE PRAIRIE DETECTIVE. CHAPTER XI. ESTHER’S NARROW~ ESCAPE, Robinson went at once, without any hesitation, to the spot where the hunters’ camp had been the pre- vious night. The place was deserted, and he had Lit- tle difficulty in making a circle around it, examin- ing all trails leading off in different directions. He discovered the place where the Bloodsuckers had branched off, traveling away to the westward, and after searching carefully the foot-prints, he saw - that there were two horses with them which did not belong to the regular band. He was enabled to reach this conclusion by a very simple method. The animals used by Persimmon Bill’s band be- longed to a peculiar breed, known as Texan mus- tangs. Their hoofs were small and of peculiar for- mation. All the other horses in the region, or a majority of them at least, were broncos, or cross- breeds, half American stock, and halfJndian ponies. Their feet were full and round, showing on the trail in marked contrast to the others. Having satisfied himself on that score, the ex-rob- ber continued his search. He had completed a wide semicircle to the southward, when- his eyes fell upon the tracks made by Esther in her hasty flight. He scanned her foot-prints closely, and soon became certain that she had made her escape alone. The only track that had been imprinted upon the ground since hers was that left by Vixen. He was puzzled for a few minutes by this strange '— €om