nd an iron still warm from
previous service. He thrust it in to heat, led Rattler into the
corral, and closed the gate securely behind him. Then he mounted, took
down his rope and widened the loop, while his angry eyes singled out
the animal he wanted first.

Ward was not an adept with a "running iron"; he was honest, whatever
men might say of him. But he knew how to tie down an animal, and he
sacrificed part of his lariat to get the short rope he needed to tie
their feet together. He worked fast--no telling what minute someone
might come and catch him--and he did his work well, far better and
neater than had his predecessors.

When he left that corral, he smiled. Before he had ridden very far up
the bluff, he stopped, looked down at the long-suffering cattle, and
smiled again sardonically. One could read their brands easily from
where he sat on his horse. They were not blotched; they were very
distinct. But they were not Y6s within that corral. There were other
brands which might be made of a Y6 monogram, by the judicious addition
of a mark here and a mark there.

"There, damn yuh: chew on that awhile!" he apostrophized the absent
three. He turned away and rode back once more toward home.

Rattler turned naturally into the trail which ran up the creek to the
ranch, but Ward immediately turned him out of it. "We aren't going to
overlook any bets, old-timer," he said grimly and crossed the creek at
a point where it was too rocky to leave any hoof-prints behind them.
He rode up the lower point of the ridge beyond and followed the crest
of it on the side away from the valley. When he reached a point nearly
opposite his cabin, he dismounted, unbuckled his spurs, and slipped
their chains over the saddle-horn. Then he went forward afoot to
reconnoitre. He was careful to avoid rock or gravelly patches and to
walk always on the soft grass which muffled his steps.

In this wise he made his way to the top of the ridge, where he could
look down upon the cabin and stable and corrals and see also the creek
trail for a good quarter of a mile. The little valley lay quiet. His
team fed undisturbed by the creek not far from the corral, which
reassured Ward more than anything. Still, he waited until he had made
reasonably sure that the bluff held no watcher concealed before he went
back to where Rattler waited patiently.

"I guess they didn't plan to stir things up till they got those
critters planted where they w