“Of course you will,” laughed Tom, who had magnanimously decided to forgive the other for his impolite conduct on the night before. “I’ll bet you’ll even be glad to do your share of the work.”
“How joyful!” jeered Larry.
“Seem to be lots of cattle around,” interposed Sam Randall.
“I guess the rustlers were considerate enough to leave a few behind as souvenirs,” grinned Dick.
Soon they were riding in the midst of a great herd of browsing longhorns.
“Whoppers, all right,” said Larry, surveying the animals with much interest. “Chirping crickets! Think of what they almost did to us last night!”
“I shall always feel grateful to that patch of woods,” said Dave. “It probably helped to save us.”
“Stampede much queer,” put in Thunderbolt, shaking his head gravely. “I no understand.”
“It shows, for one thing, that Teddy Banes knew exactly what he was talking about,” said Larry, decisively.
When the crowd finally halted for lunch in the shadow of a barren ridge of hills Larry Burnham began to feel nervous. The time had come to act. Somehow twinges of conscience, which before had not troubled the lad, assailed him fiercely. Was it right to desert the crowd in such a manner?