"Furthermore, it is suspected that Dunk and some of the other bad men of his crowd are in the pay of German agents in Mexico. The Germans are trying to stir up trouble on this side of the line, and these border ruffians are ready to do anything for the sake of easy money, even at the expense of being traitors to their country. It is believed that German money is finding its way into their pockets. The hounds!" raged the Ranger.
"Surely these men have not resorted to force—-committed murder or anything of that sort?" interposed the professor.
"Not that we know of, though some of them did have a pitched battle with a rancher over on the western border of the state. A few stopped bullets, but so far as we know no one was killed. I am telling you all this in confidence. There are a good many in this thing whose names we do not know."
"You can make the prisoner confess, can you not?" asked Professor
Zepplin.
"Confess?" the lieutenant laughed. "You don't know these Border Bandits. No, they never confess. There will always be more or less trouble down on the Rio Grande. It is so close to Mexico, so easy to get across the border that bad men cannot resist taking advantage of it. That is why the Rangers are still in business. If it were not for the border we all should be looking for other jobs. As it is there aren't many of us left."
"How many?" asked the professor.
"Some thirty in the state, that is all. We are subject to the orders of the governor, though we're left pretty much to ourselves."
"Who is your commander?"
"Captain Billy McKay."
"That's the man Dunk named. He accused us of belonging to McKay's band of Rangers," said Rector.