d not yet returned.

The situation on the Cattle-San Jacinto front was not encouraging. The
distance to be protected was nearly a mile. Part of the way was along a
ridge fairly easy to defend, but a good deal of it lay in lower land of
timber and heavy brush.

Dave rode along the front, studying the contour of the country and the
chance of defending it. His judgment was that it could not be done with
the men on hand. He was not sure that the line could be held even with
reinforcements. But there was nothing for it but to try. He sent a man to
Crawford, urging him to get help to him as soon as possible.

Then he took command of the crew already in the field, rearranged the men
so as to put the larger part of his force in the most dangerous locality,
and in default of a sack seized a spreading branch as a flail to beat out
fire in the high grass close to San Jacinto.

An hour later half a dozen straggling men reported for duty. Shorty was
one of them.

"The ol' man cayn't spare any more," the rustler explained. "He had to
hustle Steve and his gang outa their blankets to go help Bob Hart. They
say Hart's in a heluva bad way. The fire's jumped the trail-check and
is spreadin' over the country. He's runnin' another trail farther back."

It occurred to Dave that if the wind changed suddenly and heightened, it
would sweep a back-fire round him and cut off the retreat of his crew. He
sent a weary lad back to keep watch on it and report any change of
direction in that vicinity.

After which he forgot all about chances of danger from the rear. His
hands and mind were more than busy trying to drive back the snarling,
ravenous beast in front of him. He might have found time to take other
precautions if he had known that the exhausted boy sent to watch against
a back-fire had, with the coming of night, fallen asleep in a draw.

CHAPTER XXXVII

SHORTY ASKS A QUESTION

When Shorty separated from Doble in Frio Canon he rode inconspicuously to
a tendejon where he could be snugly hidden from the public gaze and yet
meet a few "pals" whom he could trust at least as long as he could keep
his eyes on them. His intention was to have a good time in the only way
he knew how. Another purpose was coupled with this; he was not going to
drink enough to interfere with reasonable caution.

Shorty's dissipated pleasures were interfered with shortly after
midnight. A Mexican came in to the drinking-place with news. The world
was o