ble R ranch covers an area of one hundred and sixty square miles,"
said Duncan. "The ranchhouse is right near the center of it. For about
twenty miles in every direction you won't find anybody but Double R men.
There are line-camps, of course--dugouts where the men hang out over night
sometimes--but that's all. To my knowledge there are only two men with
shacks around here, and they're mostly of no account. One of them is
Doubler--Ben Doubler--who hangs out near Two Forks, and the other is a
fellow who calls himself Dakota, who's got a shack about twenty miles down
the Ute, a little off the Lazette trail."

"They are ranchers, I suppose?"

Sheila's face was averted so that Duncan might not see the interest in her
eyes, or the red which had suddenly come into her cheeks.

"Ranchers?" There was a sneer in Duncan's laugh. "Well, you might call
them that. But they're only nesters. They've got a few head of cattle and
a brand. It's likely they've put their brands on quite a few of the Double
R cattle."

"You mean----" began Sheila in a low voice.

"I mean that I think they're rustlers--cattle thieves!" said Duncan
venomously.

The flush had gone from Sheila's cheeks; she turned a pale face to the
Double R manager.

"How long have these men lived in the vicinity of the Double R?"

"Doubler has been hanging around here for seven or eight years. He was
here when I came and mebbe he's been here longer. Dakota's been here about
five years. He bought his brand--the Star--from another nester--Texas
Blanca."

"They've been stealing the Double R cattle, you say?" questioned Sheila.

"That's what I think."

"Why don't you have them arrested?"

Duncan laughed mockingly. "Arrested! That's good. You've been living where
there's law. But there's no law out here; no law to cover cattle stealing,
except our own. And then we've got to have the goods. The sheriff won't do
anything when cattle are stolen, but he acts mighty sudden when a man's
hung for stealing cattle, if the man ain't caught with the goods."

"Caught with the goods?"

"Caught in the act of stealing. If we catch a man with the goods and hang
him there ain't usually anything said."

"And you haven't been able to catch these men, Dakota and Doubler, in the
act of stealing."

"They're too foxy."

"If I were manager of this ranch and suspected anyone of stealing any of
its cattle, I would catch them!" There was a note of angry impatience in
Sheila's voice whi