the same."

He invited the men from the other ranches, who had come to help him
fight the fire, to stay with him, and soon Bill Johnson was serving a
meal to many hungry men. The little Bunkers had theirs separately.

That afternoon Russ and Laddie and Vi went fishing again, while Mrs.
Bunker took the other children for a ride in one of Uncle Fred's wagons,
with Daddy Bunker to drive. She went to call on a neighbor, about five
miles away; a lady who used to live near Mrs. Bunker, but whom she had
not seen for a long while.

Laddie, Russ and Violet had fun fishing, and caught enough for Bill
Johnson to cook for supper.

"Come on!" called Laddie to Russ that evening, after they had played for
a while out near the barn. "Let's go over and get a drink out of the
spring."

"All right," agreed Russ. "Maybe we can see what makes it dry up."

"Maybe a bad Indian does it," suggested Laddie. "If I saw him do it I'd
lasso him."

"So would I--only they won't let us have lassos any more."

"Well, maybe they would if they knew we could catch an Indian," went on
Laddie hopefully. "Come on, anyhow." Then off they started toward the
spring.

"Oh, look!" exclaimed Russ, who had run on ahead. "The water's all gone
again!"

"It is?" cried Laddie. "Oh, we'd better go and tell Uncle Fred! Let me
see!"

He hurried to his brother's side. Surely enough, there was hardly a
pailful of water in the bottom of the spring. And the stream that
trickled in through the rocks at the back had stopped.

"Do you s'pose the bad men are taking any more of Uncle Fred's cattle?"
asked Laddie. "He said they did that when the spring went dry."

The two little boys managed to dip up a drink in the half a cocoanut
shell, and then they looked about them. Night was coming on, and the sun
had set some little time before.

"Hark! what's that?" asked Russ, listening.

"Thunder?" asked Laddie. "Is it thunder?"

"It sounds like it," said Russ, "but I don't see any lightning. I guess
we'd better go home, anyhow."

They started away from the spring, and then Laddie suddenly cried:

"Oh, look! Look at Uncle Fred's cows all running away!"

Russ looked, and saw a big bunch of cattle rushing and thundering across
the plain. It was the hoofs of the cattle beating on the ground that
made the sound like thunder.

"Oh, what is it? What is it?" cried Laddie. "What makes 'em run like
that?"

"It's a cattle stampede!" shouted a voice, almost in the ears of