t. But I knew. It was sure great. If only Jim
does his part!"

"You doubt that, Dad?"

"Shore do. But I'll tell you, Pan. If we could be with Jim all the
time we could pull him up."

"Let's hope he's far on the way to Siccane by now.... Does Lucy know?
I hope you didn't tell her about my meeting with Hardman and Matthews?"

"I didn't. But Bill shore did," replied his father. "Reckon I would
have squealed, though. Mother an' Lucy have a lot more nerve than me.
Fact is, though, Bill didn't give 'em time to go to pieces. He just
busted out with news of Blake's escape. Say, boy, you should have seen
Lucy."

"I will see her pronto," replied Pan eagerly. "Come on. What're you
holding me up for, anyhow?"

Pan walked the horse while his father kept pace alongside.

"Some more news I most forgot," Smith went on. "Bill told about a
shootin' scrape out in Cedar Gulch. Them claim jumpers drove a miner
named Brown off his claim. They had to fight for it. Brown said he
wounded one of 'em. They chased him clean to Satlee's ranch. Shore
wanted to kill him or scare him off for good."

"I know Brown," replied Pan. "And from what he told me I've a hunch I
know the claim jumpers."

"Wal, that'd be hard to prove. In the early days of a minin' boom
there's a lot of trouble. A miner is a crazy fellar often. He'll dig
a hole, then move on to dig another. Then if some other prospector
comes along to find gold on his last diggin's he yells claim jumpin'.
As a matter of fact most of them haven't a real claim till they find
gold. An' all that makes the trouble."

"I'll hunt Brown up and persuade him to make the wild-horse drive with
us. He's--"

"By George, I forgot some more," interrupted Smith, slapping his leg.
"Bill said Wiggate broke with Jard Hardman. Wiggate started this
wild-hoss buyin' an' shippin' east. Hardman had to get his finger in
the pie. Now Wiggate is a big man an' he has plenty of money. I
always heard him well spoken of. Now I'll gamble your callin' Jard
Hardman the way you did had a lot to do with Wiggate's break with him."

"Shouldn't wonder," rejoined Pan. "And it's darned good luck for us.
The boys ran across a valley full of wild horses over here about twenty
miles. Dad, I believe I can trap several thousand wild horses."

"No!" ejaculated his father, incredulously.

"If the boys aren't loco, I sure can," declared Pan positively.

"I can vouch for numbers myself," replied