'Major Stover'--though he has no right to do so."

"A kind of four-flushin' hombre--a coyote in sheep's clothin', I should
judge," drawled Kid Wolf.

"Thet just about describes him," the woman agreed.

"But yo' sho'ly aren't alone on yo' ranch. Wheah's yo' men?" asked The
Kid.

"They quit last week."

"Quit?" The Kid's eyebrows went up a trifle.

"All of them--five in all, includin' the foreman. And soon afterward,
all our cattle were chased off the ranch. Gone completely--six hundred
head. Then yesterday"--she paused and her eyes filled with
tears--"yesterday my husband was shot while he was standing at the edge
of the corral. I don't know who did it."

No wonder this woman felt that every hand was turned against her. Kid
Wolf's eyes blazed.

"Won't the law help yo'?" he demanded.

"There isn't any law," said the woman bitterly. "Now you understand
why I fired at you. I was desperate--nearly frantic with grief. I
hardly knew what I was doing."

"Well, just go back home to yo' ranch, ma'am. I don't think yo' need
to sell it."

"But I can't run the S Bar alone!"

"Yo' won't have to. I'll bring yo' ridahs back. Will I find them in
San Felipe?"

"I think so," said the woman, astonished. "But they won't come."

"Oh, yes, they will," said The Kid politely.

"But I can't ranch without cattle."

"I'll get them back fo' yo'."

"But they're over the line into Old Mexico by now!"

"Nevah yo' mind, ma'am. I'll soon have yo' place on a workin' basis
again. Just give me the names of yo' ridahs and I'll do the rest."

"Well, there's Ed Mullhall, Dick Anton, Fred Wise, Frank Lathum, and
the foreman--Steve Stacy. But, tell me, who are you--to do this for a
stranger, a woman you've never seen before? I'm Mrs. Thomas."

The Texan bowed courteously.

"They call me Kid Wolf, ma'am," he replied. "Mah business is rightin'
the wrongs of the weak and oppressed, when it's in mah power. Those
who do the oppressin' usually learn to call me by mah last name. Now
don't worry any mo', but just leave yo' troubles to me."

Mrs. Thomas smiled, too. She dried her eyes and looked at the Texan
gratefully.

"I've known you ten minutes," she said, "and somehow it seems ten
years. I do trust you. But please don't get yourself in trouble on
account of Ma Thomas. You don't know those men. This is a hard
country--terribly hard."

Kid Wolf, however, only smiled at her warning. He remained just long
enou