ince the courts
had as yet recognized the rights of neither litigant there was properly
no State jurisdiction here. Therefore those at outs with the law fled to
this strip and claimed immunity.

In the Panhandle itself law was a variable quantity. Its counties had
been laid out and named, but not organized. For judicial purposes they
were attached to Wheeler County. Even the Rangers did not pretend to
police this district. When they wanted a man they went in and got him.

The rider swung at last from his saddle and dropped the bridle reins to
the ground. He crept forward to some long, flat sheep-sheds that bulked
dimly in the night shadows. Farther back, he could just make out the
ghost of a dwelling-hut. Beyond that, he knew, was a Mexican village of
three or four houses. A windmill reared its gaunt frame in the corral. A
long trough was supplied by it with water for the sheep.

The night-rider dipped a bucket of water from the tank that fed the
trough. He carried it to the gate of the corral and poured it slowly
into the fine dust made by the sharp feet of the sheep, mixing the water
and dust to a thick paste with the end of an old branding-iron. He
brought bucket after bucket of water until he had prepared a bed of
smooth mud of the proper consistency.

Before he had quite finished his preparation a dog inside the adobe hut
began to bark violently. The interloper slipped over the fence and
retreated to the darkness of the _barranca_.

From the direction of the hut men poured. The one crouching in the
chaparral heard voices. He made out a snatch or two of talk in Spanish.
The men were explaining to themselves that the dog must have been
barking at a wolf or a coyote. Presently they trooped back into the
house. Silence fell again over the night.

The man in the chaparral once more crept forward and climbed the fence.
He made straight for the entrance of the corral. Carefully he examined
the footprints written in the bed of mud he had prepared. One after
another he studied them. Some had been crossed out or blotted by
subsequent prints, but a few were perfect. One of these he scrutinized
for a long time, measuring its dimensions with a tape-line from toe to
heel, across the ball of the foot, the instep, and the heel. When at
last he straightened up his eyes were shining with satisfaction. He had
found what he wanted.

Once more the dog was uneasy with growlings. The man retreated from the
corral, returned to his