"All the same, your father gets the benefit of them," he continued hotly.
"I wish to heaven he had kept out of them."
Van Horn eyed her sharply. His face reflected his sarcasm. "Of course, you needn't worry," he grinned, with implication. "They wouldn't steal your horse even if you do always leave it in Kitchen's barn; the Falling Wall bunch think too much of you for that."
Surprised as she was at this outbreak, Kate kept her head. "There are some of the rustlers I'd trust as far as I would some of the raiders," she rejoined coolly.
"Why don't you say Jim Laramie," he exclaimed harshly.
"Jim Laramie," she returned defiantly, "is not the only one."
"He'll be the 'only one' after our next clean-up in the Falling Wall. And he won't be 'one' if he doesn't change his tune."
Kate's eyes were snapping fire. "Take care that next time the Falling Wall doesn't clean you up," she said bitingly.
He snorted. "I mean it," she exclaimed. "Next time you'll need to look out for yourself."
He bolted from his chair. "That's the first time I ever heard anybody on this ranch take sides with the men that's robbing it—or carry a threat to this ranchhouse for rustlers."