There all four of them denied that they had done anything wrong.
Each claimed that he had nothing to do with cutting out the wire, denied that he was driving the cattle and, of course, claimed to be innocent of any wrong-doing.
"Well," said Fred, "I hope you will be able to prove your innocence in court, for that is where you are going."
Then Fred turned on the two cowboys and asked them why they had left that corner of the ranch unguarded.
"Boss," one of them said, "there wasn't enough of us to reach down so far, and we thought that it would be safe to let it alone and to-morrow report it, but as soon as we saw the light we came down to investigate it."
Both of them thought that that excuse was reasonable, and Fred told them that they were expected to be vigilant in the discharge of their work and that they would employ more cowboys.
"Now you two can lie down here and sleep while we keep watch."
"Boss, we'll watch while you sleep," was the reply.
"No, we are going to keep watch ourselves. At daylight I want one of you to make your way back to the barn and hitch up a team, bring down a coil of wire and the necessary tools to repair this gap and then take the prisoners back to town.
"Fred," said Terry, "why not tell them to bring a coil of rope."