d you, I trust you'll work up a pile of wood
that will keep me going--and folks call me Waddles," he added as an
afterthought.

"Very good, Mr. Waddles," the newcomer smiled. "You shall have your
fuel."

The big man grinned.

"That title is derived from my shape and gait," he informed. "My
regular name is Smith--if you're set on tacking a Mister on behind it."

The girl waved the talkative cook aside and turned to the new hand.

"You'll take it then."

He nodded.

"Could you spare me about ten minutes some time to-day?" he asked.

"Yes," she said. "I'll send for you when I have time."

The man headed back for his horses and unlashed the buckskin's
top-pack, dropping it to the ground, then led the two of them back
toward the corral, stripped the saddle from the pinto, the side
panniers and packsaddle from the buckskin and turned them into the
corral. He rambled among the outbuildings on a tour of inspection and
the girl saw him stand long in one spot before the solid log cabin, now
used as a storeroom for odds and ends, that had been the first one
erected on the Three Bar and had sheltered the Harrises before her
father took over their brand.

II

The Three Bar girl sat looking from the window of her own room, the
living room of the ranch house, one end of which was curtained off to
serve as sleeping quarters. The rattle of pots and pans came from the
big room in the rear which was used by Waddles as a kitchen and dining
hall for the hands. The new man was still prowling about the place,
inspecting every detail, and she wondered if he could tell her anything
which would prove of benefit in her fight to stop the shrinkage of the
Three Bar herds and help her to face the drastic changes that were
reshaping the policies of the range country.

The Three Bar home range was one of many similar isolated spots where
the inhabitants held out for a continuance of the old order of things.
All through the West, from the Mexican border to the Canadian line, a
score of bitter feuds were in progress, the principles involved
differing widely according to conditions and locality. There were
existing laws,--and certain clans that denied the justice of each one,
holding out against its enforcement and making laws of their own. In
some spots the paramount issue was over the relative grazing rights of
cows and sheep, fanning a flame of hatred between those whose
occupations were in any way concerned with these ri