hen they rode out on
the broad flat where the cattle were grazing. There were hundreds of
cattle on that range. Joy shivered. There was no pretense in her
terror. She did not like cattle.

"Oh, look at Tommy Sharpe. He'll be killed," she cried.

"He's all right, Joy. He understands the game. Just watch and you'll
see what he is going to do," returned Paul.

Tommy had spurred his horse forward and was now riding straight toward
the herd. It seemed to the girls that he was right in the midst of
that stamping, struggling mass.

The boy was after a certain cow with her calf and as he kept his eye on
the animal he wanted, he untied the rope fastened about the saddle
horn, and held the other end ready to throw when he had a chance.

The girls watched proudly as the boy rode confidently into the herd,
divided it and then singling out the animal he was after, threw the
loop.

No sooner did the loop twirl through the air than the trained cowpony
braced itself backward. There was a swirl of dust in the air. The
herd raced madly across the flat to the safety of the canyon beyond and
the girls saw that Tommy had succeeded. A cow was scrambling to her
feet, bellowing with rage.

Twice the animal was thrown down before she gave up the struggle, and
the reason for that was the appearance of a calf that answered her
hoarse call.

Tommy led the animal toward the trail and the calf followed. Tommy had
won.

"Do you like being a cowboy, Tommy?" asked Enid as she spurred her
horse to have a word with the boy.

"It's the best sport in the world, Enid. I wouldn't ask for nothing
better."

Whether it was the long ride over the mountain, or something that the
professor had eaten; that night he was a sick man.

"Go for Mrs. Patten," he gasped. "She knows what to do."

And the girls, hearing about it from Kit, soon followed her to the
camp. They found the professor tossing uneasily on his cot, holding
his head to try and stop the pain. Even after Ma Patten's treatment it
was an hour before he quieted down.

The girls had been wandering about the camp and Bet suddenly exclaimed,
"Come on girls, let's be sports and visit the site of our fondest
hopes, and of our bitter disappointment."

"Aw, why rub it in?" said Kit with a shrug, as she followed Bet into
the tunnel.

"I never even looked to see where that old chest came from, and I want
to see," Bet let herself down into the hole. "I can't believe that
anyon