"Oh, we'll rope them and get a headstall on, anyway. The rest will come along all right, I think," smiled Tad.
"Ah, my niece, Miss Brayton!" exclaimed the rancher, introducing a young woman who had just entered the room.
"With the Miller outfit?" she asked.
"Yes," answered Tad.
"Who is your foreman?"
"Stallings—Bob Stallings."
Tad thought Miss Brayton one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. Yet there was something about her that affected him strangely. Perhaps it was her abrupt manner of speaking. At any rate the lad experienced a sense of uneasiness the moment she entered the room. He did not stop to ask himself why. Tad merely knew that this was true. Miss Brayton had little to say, but her quietness was more than atoned for by the vivacity of Sadie and Margaret.
As Tad was taking his leave the entire family accompanied him out into the yard.
"If your duties will permit we should like to have you and your companions dine with us to-morrow evening," said Colonel McClure.
"Yes; by all means," added Mrs. McClure.