He slipped into his clothes and joined them.
“Chuck tells us the rain played you a dirty trick,” said Walt Kelly, hitching his pants closer about his rotund waist.
“It didn’t help any,” admitted Slim.
“Learn anything that really gives you anything on the rustlers?” asked Doug Huston. Slim looked into the watery eyes and thought he detected a trace of uneasiness.
“Not a thing,” he replied. While the others headed for the cookhouse, Slim hurried down to the corral. He was afraid the rain had washed the dye off Lightning, but to his intense relief he found that the white spots were still effectively covered.
There was little conversation at breakfast as the punchers downed the stacks of cakes and gulped the breakfast food and coffee. When they emerged from the cookhouse, Joe Haines was waiting for them.
“We’ve got two more riders,” he said, “and we’re going to try to cover all of the main herds everyday.” Then he assigned the work and Slim found that he was teamed with Doug Huston while Chuck was paired off with Pat Beals. Joe and Walt would ride together while Lee Wu took his faithful shotgun to the ranch house to stand guard there.
Slim found Doug to be a silent riding partner, but Doug knew the range well and they worked west toward the foothills where he had ridden the day before. The rain had freshened the grass overnight and Slim marveled at the sleek, well fed condition of the Box B cattle. It was little wonder rustlers would take extreme risks to get such stock as grazed on the rolling acres of the Marks’ ranch.
They stopped at noon and ate the lunch Lee Wu had prepared, then started the swing back toward the ranch. There had been no sign of any cattle having been stolen and the herds were grazing calmly in the rich valleys of the foothills.
They were near the north boundary of the ranch when Slim sighted a lone rider and turned to Doug.