“You don’t say!” his brother returned, in a bantering tone. “I suppose the news just trickled out! You didn’t ask mother to ’phone over to Mrs. Ball and find out, did you? Oh, no! Well, let’s have it all. Why are they going to stay all winter, Mr. Bones?”
“Aw, dry up,” Roy said, laughing, albeit his face was a trifle red. “Trying to kid me, aren’t you? How’s Curly, Ted? Have you heard from her lately?”
“No, I haven’t!” and Teddy in his turn became flustered. “But I know why they are going to stay all winter, even if you don’t. Their folks went abroad. Mr. Carew had to settle an estate with ramifications in Italy, and Mr. and Mrs. Willis went with him and his wife.”
“Oh-ho! Our little detective on the job! Say, don’t try to kid me. After that you haven’t got a word to say! Star, take it easy! This pony must want to get home in a hurry.” Roy steadied his grip on the reins.
“Guess he didn’t like that noise any more than we did,” Teddy suggested. “These horses know almost as much as we do, they’ve been with us so long. It was sure tough when the rustlers stole them, wasn’t it? Great to have them back, though.”
“I’ll tell a maverick it is! And we’re lucky those rustlers—especially Froud—didn’t ride ’em to death. Checkered Shirt prevented Froud from injuring them, I guess. Wonder what became of him!”
“Can’t imagine. He turned out to be a pretty decent sort of a hombre after all, didn’t he? Well, I wish him luck. He certainly did us a favor.”
Teddy was referring to the leader of a gang of rustlers who had turned friendly when the brothers saved him from death and had in consequence helped them recover their ponies, which had been stolen by Gilly Froud to revenge himself against Mr. Manley for his discharge by the ranch owner.
As the brothers rode down the trail, Roy frequently turned in his saddle and gazed up the mountain. Finally Teddy asked:
“What’s the idea, Roy? Why the interested stare? Expect to see a friend of yours?”