ld pick up."

"Well, he found us ready for him!" exclaimed Yellin' Kid.

"Yes, but maybe he'll go back and report that we aren't ready enough,"
said Billee.

"What do you mean?" asked Bud.

"I mean he has sized up our force, and he and his gang may be able to
bring up enough to beat us back. You see, boys, this land is a rich
prize, not only for sheep men but for any who want to use it for
grazing. It has water and good grass."

"Well, what's the matter with 'em stayin' on their own side of Spur
Creek?" asked Snake, growling out the words.

"That's where they should stay, by rights," said Billee, "and it's
where we intend to keep 'em. The other land is open to those who stake
it out, I suppose, but on this side it belongs to your father, Bud."

"The trouble is he has to prove it," answered the boy rancher.

"Yes, and that's going to be hard with his papers stolen the way they
are," admitted Billee. "Of course it was a put up job, and I have my
suspicions of who did it. But this land would be a rich prize for a
sheep herder or anybody else, and we've got to fight 'em off."

"Who are you suspicious of?" demanded Bud.

"Never you mind," was the enigmatical answer, given with a shake of the
head, "but I have 'em all right. However, that's another matter. What
we have to do now is to get ready to meet any of these sheep men if
they come up and try to cross the creek."

"You reckon he's gone back to his gang to tell 'em to get ready to come
here?" asked Snake.

"Shouldn't wonder," admitted Billee. "But it'll be some time before
they can bring up the woollies."

"Sheep travel fast, they eat fast and they ruin water and pastures
faster'n Sam Hill!" exclaimed Yellin' Kid, and this was true. If you
have ever watched a flock of sheep feeding you would know this. They
eat as though they feared some one was going to take all the grass away
on a moment's notice.

"Well, he's ridin' fast," observed Snake, as, shading his eyes with his
hat, he gazed in the direction taken by the lone horseman. The fellow
was almost out of sight now, and soon was lost to view.

Danger now seemed more imminent than it had been, and, as behooved
efficient cowboys, our friends at once began going over the situation
and making sure that they had done all that was possible to fortify
their position.

Of course, while I have referred to the shack hurriedly erected as a
"fort," it was nothing of the sort. There were no heavy wal