ck and lush on the border of
the stream. The man's right arm was bared to the elbow, and he was
dashing water on a wound just above the wrist. Then he tore a strip from
his shirt and proceeded to bandage the arm as best he could, accompanying
the action with groans and curses that told of the pain he was enduring.

Bert's first thought was to steal down upon the man and at the point of
his revolver demand his surrender. He had the drop on him, and, quick as
the ruffian had proved himself on the draw, he would be at too great a
disadvantage to resist. But, after all, what right had he to arrest the
man? As far as the shooting in the saloon was concerned, the dead man had
started the fight, and the other had acted in self-defense. The question
of cheating was an open one that could probably never be determined. It
had not been a murder, but a duel, and the quicker hand and better shot
had won. There was no call for Bert to interfere.

As to the charge of cattle rustling, he had absolutely no proof to go
upon. He had the moral conviction that the man was mixed up in the
affair, but not a scintilla of evidence that would stand for a moment in
a court of law. It would be high-handed and indefensible to make this man
a prisoner, and take him on to the ranch for questioning by Melton. He
would simply stand on his rights and defy them to prove anything against
him. They would be forced to let him go, and, being henceforth on his
guard, it would be doubly difficult to trap him and his gang.

No, the waiting game was the only one to play under the circumstances,
and Bert replaced the revolver that he had half drawn from his belt. But
he had no intention of resuming his journey to the ranch. Fate had
brought him in contact with this man, when he had given up all
expectation of finding him, and he was too good a sportsman to overlook
any point in the game. He would keep him in sight, hang on his flank,
follow his trail wherever it led, in the hope of finding the rendezvous
of the gang. Then he would ride with whip and spur to the ranch, Melton
would gather his men together, and they would swoop down on the outlaws'
camp and catch them red-handed with their booty.

While he was settling on this course of action as promising the best
results, the man had completed the task of bandaging. Bert looked for
him to unhobble his horse and resume his journey. But, to his surprise,
the fellow stretched himself out on the grass as though in