ents of consequence that had transpired since
the family had left Bramley two years before, that the twenty miles
which lay between Tolopah and the ranch seemed scarcely one.

CHAPTER V

THE HALF-MOON RANCH

As the boys drew rein in front of the broad, vine-covered piazza of
the ranch house they were greeted by Mr. and Mrs. Wilder,

"Well, it does seem good to see some one from home," exclaimed the
latter as she shook the hands of Tom and Larry.

"It sure does," asserted her husband. "Wish you'd brought your
father and mother with you. What in the world started them off to
Scotland?"

Quickly the brothers explained.

"Well, well! So Uncle Darwent really had some money," commented
Mrs. Wilder. "I'm real glad, though of course it isn't as though
your father needed any more. I should have thought you boys would
have wanted to go with them."

"Not when we could spend the summer on your ranch," returned Larry.
"But we began to be afraid we would be obliged to go, and we should
have if the telegram had been any later. No time ever seemed so
long as when we were waiting for your answer."

"It was just luck we got your message," declared Horace.
"Sometimes we don't go to town for a week. But something seemed to
urge me to ride in the other morning, and when I arrived Con Brown
hollered to me he had a telegram. When I read it, I didn't lose
any time answering, and I made Con promise to rush it."

"Con's our telegraph operator," explained Bill. "Come on in and
change your duds and then we'll look the ranch over."

Nothing loath to remove their clothes, which still smelled of
engine smoke, despite their ride over the plains, as the brothers
seized their suitcases and followed their young hosts, Larry
exclaimed laughingly:

"You see we took your advice not to bring a trunk."

"Glad of it," asserted Horace joyously. "There's no need to dress
out here. It's just great! You don't have to put on a collar from
one week's end to another. But if you had brought a lot of
clothes, mother would have made us dress too. That's why I
mentioned the matter in my telegram."

This explanation was given in a low tone that Mrs. Wilder might not
know her son had taken such effective measures to prevent his being
obliged to "dress up," and the boys laughed heartily at the
harmless joke.

The home of the Wilders was only one story high, but the rooms were
big and comfortable. Around three sides ran the piazza, f