"Be careful about goin' too far away from the herd alone."
"I will; and, say, warn Stella and Miss Croffut about going out of sight of the herd, and to always fire a signal if strange men approach them when away from camp."
"I'll put everybody on, and warn them to be on their guard."
As Ted rode on, he turned the matter over in his mind.
Not knowing exactly if poison had been given the cattle, or if they had eaten of a poisonous weed, of which he had no knowledge, Ted was in a quandary. But it was questions like this that came before cowmen on the range, and it was the successful ones who solved them.
Ted felt, therefore, that it was up to him to get at the cause of the trouble which had unexpectedly come to him.
If he was being followed by a band of cattle poisoners who worked in the night, the sooner he knew it the better, for he could then lay plans to put them out of their nefarious business.
As he rode, he came across three swollen bodies of steers, and examined them. Clearly they had been poisoned, as Bud had said.
Far out on the range he saw a lone steer. Thinking that it was a stray, he rode toward it, with the intention of driving it back toward the herd.
For a herd steer, it was acting in an unaccountable manner. At times it galloped away in a frantic sort of way, throwing its head from side to side, then as suddenly stopping, and, with drooping head, standing quietly. Then away it would go again, charging at some unseen foe, only to become stupid once more.