The hotelkeeper pursed his lips and looked as if he were solving a hard problem.
"It's a puzzle to me how Larry makes a living. It's only now and then he sends a little fish away, and I can't see what he'd do with a partner." Then he changed the subject. "You're thinking of buying land?"
"No," said Mr. Oliver, "I sailed over in my boat to dispatch a wire. It was much easier than riding a long way to the nearest office now that the trails are soft."
"They're bad, sure," assented his companion, and they continued to discuss ranching until Mr. Oliver finally rose and said he would walk across to the depot. The boys followed him a few paces behind. Harry addressed his companion with a look of admiration for his father.
"I guess you noticed how dad found out about those fellows without letting the man think he was curious?" he said.
Frank said that he had noticed it and added:
"I wonder what the fellow came up from the South for?"
"That," said Harry significantly, "is a point I expect dad's doing some hard thinking on just now."
They walked into the agent's office and sat down to wait as he told them that he had as yet received no answer to the telegram. The door near which Frank sat stood partly open, and he noticed that the two men were lounging close outside it. He quietly touched Mr. Oliver's arm, indicating them with a glance. The rancher knitted his brows and presently spoke to the agent.
"There are two men who seem to be waiting for you outside," he said.