“What d’ye suppose Peg Grant and that bunch could have been doing over here?” Bob asked after a time, as though he himself might have been trying to figure things out, but without success.
“Oh! the country is free to anybody who cares to ride,” laughed Frank. “Some go in for hunting; others to taking long gallops; while a few like to hover around, and pick up points concerning rival ranches. You know we heard that the Syndicate has an eye on the Arrowhead Ranch. Perhaps Peg may have been sent out to get tabs on the cattle they control, so the count-in won’t be a fraud. Men who cheat are always expecting others to try and get them in a dicker.”
“They thought you would sure shoot,” chuckled Bob; “I never saw such ducking in all my life. And that looked like Peg himself, the one who smashed into that tree.”
“It was a sweet bump, and don’t you forget it, Bob. Chances are, Peg will be nursing a banged-up nose longer than your knees and elbows will hurt you.”
“Say, I wonder if this is a sample of what’s going to strike us on this new venture?” observed the Kentucky lad. “Because things are coming our way pretty swift, so far. On the go just a few hours, and I get yanked out of my saddle. I reckon I must have seen that rope sailing toward me, for I can remember throwing up my arm; and that kept the noose from tightening around my neck.”
“Just what happened,” nodded Frank; “those of us who have used the lariat a long time always do that sort of thing when we think a rope is whizzing in our direction—throw up a hand, and duck!”
So they rode on, talking about the recent little trouble, and making progress. When noon came a halt was made in order to take a bite, and rest the horses; for the blazing sun came down with a fierce directness that made traveling exhausting to man and beast.
Frank had picked out the place for the noonday rest. A clear little brooklet gurgled out of a split in the rock. Undoubtedly it came from the distant mountains, where snow melted on the peaks throughout the summer, forming many such little streams that eventually joined forces with the mighty Colorado.
“What are you laughing at, Frank?” demanded Bob, as they sat there, munching some of the sandwiches the Chinese cook at the ranch house had put up for them, while the two horses tried to find some stray bunches of grass near the water.
“Just happened to remember a time when I got snaked off the back of a horse, and as sudden as you did just now,” replied the prairie boy, still chuckling.