“And no knowing what Philo Marsh would have done, had his crowd been in the majority,” growled Ned, from the other side of the girls. “He looks ugly enough right now to chew nails.”
But Mr. Marsh had come to the end of his rope. He and his friends conferred together for only a few moments and then rode slowly away.
“But they may be back with more dynamite, if this place isn’t watched,” said Ned. “How about it, Mr. Ledger?”
“The boy’s right,” said Lance. “Philo is a regular snake in the grass.”
“That’s what John Dempsey calls him,” said Tavia to Dorothy; but Dorothy would not speak to her chum just then, for she still felt aggrieved.
“What yuh want,” said Lance to Hank Ledger, “is somebody tuh patrol this here river till them Desert City people sign up an’ take charge of things—if Miz White is goin’ tuh let ’em have the water.”
“Them’s the fellers that’s goin’ to git it,” agreed Hank. “She told me so. And you air right, Lance—you bein’ the man for the job. I’ll speak to Miz White about it—if yuh’ll sign on. Sixty a month an’ found—better’n you’re gittin’ now, old boy.”
“I’m on,” agreed the cowpuncher, looking at the two girls slily. But Dorothy saw the glance, and she was again disturbed. “I got tired of eatin’ that Chink’s cookin’ over at the Double Chain Outfit, anyhow. B’sides, I believe I kin git my old lady tuh stay out yere with me for a spell, an’ I’ll need a raise in wages, Hank.”
They left him there on guard and rode back to the ranch-house. Aunt Winnie was placidly knitting on the veranda, for Mrs. Ledger had assured her that her sons and the two girls had ridden off in company with Lance Petterby and the Mexicans.
But she was excited when she received the report of what had been done over by Lost River. The way Philo Marsh and his henchmen had treated Flores could not be overlooked.