was being
turned into the Flying Dollars brand. You stopped cattle stealing in the
Big Sandy region."

"Things were hot around there for a while, weren't they, Berlin?"
laughed Frank.

"I haven't heard about this," said Diamond. "What's the story?"

Carson looked disturbed.

"I don't like to tell it," he confessed. "Still, I don't suppose Frank
would give himself proper credit if he should tell you. Did you ever
hear of Laramie Dave, the rustler?"

"My dear fellow, I've been living on the other side of the pond so long
that I haven't heard of anything taking place out in your part of this
country. Who was this Laramie Dave?"

"The worst rustler known in recent years. He carried on most of his
operations on the big ranches to the north of us. He operated
extensively in Wyoming and in Montana. At last the cattlemen became
exasperated and made things hot for him up there. Next we knew Laramie
Dave was said to be getting in his work in Colorado. We lost cattle
right along on the Big Sandy, and the Bar S people had the same trouble.
The Flying Dollars people also made a similar complaint. The Flying
Dollars Ranch was owned by Colonel King.

"There was an old feud between my foreman and the foreman of the Flying
Dollars. I was with Merry in Denver when I received word that the
rustlers were hitting us hard, and I struck out for the Big Sandy, Frank
accompanying me. We found our fences were being cut everywhere, which
permitted our cattle to stray or to be driven off. We rode over our
ranch, took a look at the Bar S cattle, and visited the Flying Dollars.

"The night following our visit to the Flying Dollars Merry sat up
scrawling on a piece of paper in an aimless way, while I went to bed. He
woke me from a sound sleep by uttering an exclamation of triumph. I
think I growled at him, but he made me get up, and there on the paper he
had drawn the different brands of the three ranches, the Bar S, the Big
Sandy, and the Flying Dollars. He had combined all three brands into
one. He showed how either the Bar S or the B. S. could be turned into
the Flying Dollars by having the latter brand burned over them. But
every one in those parts respected Colonel King. No one had ever dreamed
that he was concerned in the rustling. Nevertheless, Merry's detective
work put us on the right track, and in the end we learned beyond
question that King was stealing and rebranding our cattle. His
assertions that he was losing cows were lies.