VII A NIGHT OF WAITING
XVIII SMUGGLING OPERATIONS
XIX THE CHASE
XX DOWN AND OUT
XXI CLOSING IN
XXII FLYING BULLETS
XXIII A RING OF FIRE
XXIV THE RATTLING BUCKBOARD
XXV YELLIN' KID FINDS HIS BRONC

THE BOY RANCHERS ON ROARING RIVER

CHAPTER I

A DANGEROUS MISSION

"Hold up there, you pint o' peanuts! Hold up, I say! Well, for the
love of spread eagle! I suppose you boys are lookin' for a job; eh?"

The speaker, a typical, raw-boned cowboy, looked down from his pony at
three boys seated on a bench at the side of the cook-house.

"Whether we are or not, we've got it, Kid," answered one of the seated
trio, a well set-up youth with light hair. "And the funny part of it
is, we don't know what the job is."

"Huh! Got a job and you don't know what it is? Well, Nort, guess I'll
have to look into this," and the cowboy whom Nort addressed as
"Kid"--or, to give him his full nick-name, "Yellin' Kid"--swung lightly
from his saddle. "Hold up there, you pony, you!" this as the Kid's
mount started to prance about wildly. "Just got this here dust-raiser,
and she ain't used to my ways yet," he chuckled. "Hy' ya', Dick, and
Bud! How's the boy, Nort? By golly, ranchin' is sure doin' you
fellers good! You-all got some powerful grip!"

The three boys, Nort and Dick Shannon, and their cousin Bud Merkel,
grinned widely. They were all of the same mold--clean-cut,
straight-shooting lads, their faces bronzed from the prairie sun, and
their eyes as clear as the blue sky above them.

"Yes, Kid, ranching has done us good--in more ways than one. In fact
it's done us up brown." And Bud laughed a little ruefully.

"What's the matter? Rustlers, or disease?" The Kid's face expressed
instant concern as he mentioned these two nightmares of the rancher's
life.

"No, not either--but something almost as bad. You tell him, Nort,"
suggested Bud.

"You started it--you might as well finish out, Bud. You know as much
about it as I do."

"Aw, get Dick to. He hasn't said a word yet."

"Well, for Pete's sake, _somebody_ tell me before I drop dead from
excitement!" burst out Yellin' Kid.

"All right--I'll tell you, Kid," Dick started. "Last week we were to
deliver a herd of longhorns to J. K. Jackson, over to Double-O ranch.
Sold 'em at a good fat price, too, that would have put us on our feet
for the rest of the year. Well, we sent four of our men to ride 'em
in. I went along with 'em.