"That's right, so you did. Was the calf hog-tied?"
"Naturally."
"And when you saw this stranger and jumped him, I suppose you came boiling along right after him?"
"Sure did." Thus Rafe Tuckleton.
"None of you stopped anywhere, huh?"
"Why, no, of course not. It wouldn't be reasonable, would it, if we were chasin' him, to get off and fiddle around?"
"No, it wouldn't be reasonable," admitted Billy. "Then if none of you got off to turn the calf loose, the calf must still be there—calf, fire and running-iron?"
Rafe looked a little blank at this. So did the others. Jonesy was the first to recover his spirits.
"Unless somebody else turned it loose," suggested Jonesy brightly.
"But the fire and running-iron will still be there."