ed all sorts of
crimes, from theft to murder. It is said that these are more to be
feared than the white men, for they are terribly cruel, and when they
get a victim he is tortured with all the horrible rites of the true
savage. They know that the moment they are caught that is the end for
them, so that they are reckless to the verge of insanity.

"I tell you these things, believing that you already know what ranching
in northern Montana means, and with every confidence in Ted Strong's
ability to take care of himself, and meet conditions when they appear.
All I can say is, go after them if they molest you. I and my boys fought
them so successfully that they gave us a wide berth toward the end. But
when they learn that new hands have taken hold of the Long Tom they may
think that they can start their funny business again.

"Knowing your reputation, and the ability you have shown in the past in
wiping out, or at least breaking up and scattering, bands of bad men, I
leave the Long Tom in your hands with the hope that when I take it over
again in the spring there will be no more Whipple gang, and that the
Sweet Grass Mountains will be as safe as one's own dooryard.

"A word in your ear about the Sweet Grass Mountains: It is known to a
few men in Montana, and a few others in various parts of the country
that somewhere in those mountains are rich mines of gold and copper, and
at various times men have brought out beautiful and valuable specimens
of sapphires and rubies in the rough, not knowing what they were, having
picked them up solely because they were beautiful and unusual.

"If it were not for the Whipple gang the mountains would have been
opened up to the prospectors long ago. Several prospectors, unheedful of
the warnings, have gone in, but none have ever come out of the Sweet
Grass Mountains.

"Whoever is at the head of the Whipple gang possesses more than the
usual share of brains, courage, and luck. Keep your eye peeled, and good
fortune to you."

This letter had been read to the boys one night in camp, and all were
instructed to look out for strangers on the ranch and to inform
themselves of the business of such.

One night Carl started from the sign camp to ride north to meet the
rider from sign camp No. 2, which lay nearer the mountains.

The camp in which Bud and Carl were stationed was camp No. 1.

The distance between the camps was about six miles, so that each rider
had to go about three miles to m