"I've got a man. I can't stop. Grab him!" cried Tad in an excited, triumphant tone.
Mr. Simms saw. The others observed at the same time. They made a concerted rush for the lad's prisoner.
"Stop!" commanded the rancher.
Tad drew up instantly. As he did so three of them grabbed the man at the other end of the lariat, throwing him on the ground flat on his back.
"All right?" sang back Tad.
"Yes."
The boy unwound the rope from his saddle pommel and casting the end from him, rode back and dismounted. Yes, he had caught a cowman, but the fellow sullenly refused to answer a question that was put to him.
The prisoner was glaring up at him with eyes so full of malignant hate that Tad instinctively shrank back.
"Know him!" asked Mr. Simms sharply.
"Not by name. He's one of the men I saw over at the Corners. He was the worst one of the lot, except the boy they called Bob."