“If Pop was a clever scout, or something like that, I could understand it,” Nick confessed. “But he’s such a dumb galoot! I can’t figure it nohow! There he stands, with a look on his map as innercent as a white-faced yearling, an’ I walk right into his hands! Then he turns around an’ gives me the royal razz. No sir, it’s beyond me! Oh, I can guess how he did the trick all right, after he saw how in that book of mine. That ain’t what’s worryin’ me. What I want to know is how he planned the whole busted business an’ was Gus in with him. By golly, she’s too many fer me!”
The two brothers, restraining their laughter, admitted they could not solve the problem for him, and, shaking his head, Nick walked away. It was many days before he could hear a laugh without staring with a suspicious scowl at the merry one.
The wind was strong at times and one extra heavy gust blew down several of the poles upon which the telephone wire was fastened. As a consequence, the phone was out of commission for several days. At the time nobody thought anything of this, for the local line was none too good and often went out of commission.
Although during the rain Roy and Teddy did no range riding, except one afternoon when the sun shone for a few hours, promising clear weather, only to disappear behind clouds again by evening, yet they were not idle. Together with their father, they went over all possible places the escaped rustlers might try to raid the herd and steal cattle, planning to fortify the weak spots against possible depredations. There were now five men riding herd, and Mr. Manley seriously considered adding another, but after a consultation with the boys, decided against it.
“Can’t have ’em all out,” he declared. “If that ‘Reltsur’ starts anything around the ranch, we don’t want to be handicapped by lack of men. This time there’ll be none of this ‘man to man’ stuff. I want no more trouble with that gang of hoss thieves, an’ I’ll let them alone if they’ll stay their distance. But if they want to mix it—” and the man’s eyes narrowed—“they’ll get what they’re lookin’ for! At the first sign of trouble we ride ’em down, an’ polish ’em off, if we have to. The sooner they learn that the new West has no place for rustlers an’ gunmen, the better. In the old days—” He hesitated, and a smile trembled on his lips, but instantly his face grew grave again. “They’re gone forever. We have no more time for chasin’ hoss thieves all over the landscape. Besides, the men were different then.
“Do you suppose Gilly Froud would last a minute around a gang like Whitey Kunkle an’ Mike Delnegro an’ Lasher Pete? Huh! he’d be run off the reservation. Those waddies may have been tough, but they weren’t cowards an’ wouldn’t plug a man without givin’ him a chance to go fer his shootin’ iron. But these birds!” His eyes flickered with contempt. “Why, they ain’t even tough! They’re just a bunch of sore-heads, afraid to take a man on unless he’s tied hand an’ foot and him in the light while they’re shootin’ from the dark! A fine gang! Sendin’ a note sayin’ I’d get mine if I didn’t lay off ’em!
“Well, let ’em come! Maybe when the lazy cowards find out they can’t blaze away from behind a brick wall or a barroom window, they’ll change their minds about thinkin’ they’re bold, bad cattle rustlers!”
This was the longest speech the boss had made in many a moon. But it indicated his feelings in the matter, and left no doubt as to his intentions if “Reltsur” tried to make good his threat. Mr. Manley never looked for trouble, nor, indeed, did he meet it half way. It had to come up to his door and knock if it wanted to see him; but once it did that, the vicinity would not complain of lack of excitement for some time to come.
It was only natural that his two sons should inherit some of this steady, determined disposition of his, and Teddy and Roy had it in full measure. Still, Roy’s was tempered with much of the gentleness of his mother, and, like her, he met the world with grave, understanding eyes. While he shared, in a measure, Teddy’s wholehearted appreciation of a bit of horseplay, yet frequently he would see behind outward appearances and discover things which were lost to his brother’s more superficial glance.
Yet, in the situation existing at the X Bar X Teddy himself found plenty of food for thought. His father had taken the warning signed “Reltsur” with a great deal more gravity than the younger boy had thought he would. This, in itself, was enough to convince Teddy that the matter could not be laughed off. To add to this, the several happenings before and after the visit of the night rider, while none of them significant in themselves, yet totaled into an aspect calling for consideration.