"Never had such a walk before," Bob was saying. "Black as pitch; couldn't even see the road. Tired? Well, just a bit. Found a place for us to sleep, eh? That's great."
Tim's thoughts were running in another channel.
"See here, Bob," he asked, "what—what are we goin' to do about this thing?"
"Do!" Bob squared his broad shoulders aggressively. "Why, there's only one thing for us to do, Tim; and that is—" He waved his arm toward the north.
And the others understood, and cheered.
CHAPTER IX
THE BRONCHOS
It was late in the afternoon of the next day when the boys, following a well-defined cattle trail which led over range after range of hills and through broad valleys, came in sight of a collection of white buildings—the ranch-house and barns of Cattle King Irwin.
Eagerly they pushed ahead, watching with a satisfaction born of fatigue and hunger the outlines of the grim old structure slowly expanding before their eyes. It was a picturesque, time-stained building, L-shaped, two-storied, with a little tower rising from the center, rows of windows on all sides, and surrounded by a broad veranda.