as they filed through
the gate of the round-up corrals, again as they were turned into the
upland range. Two hundred and thirty-four head.

"Two hundred and thirty-four head where I defy Blenham or the devil
himself to steal a single one of them," said Steve positively.

For though there were no fences here nature had raised sufficient
barriers in the way of the sheer Drop Off Chasm cutting across the
southern end of the plateau and in rocky, uninviting and all but
impassable mountain peaks on north and east and a section of the
western boundary.

It seemed the simplest matter in the world here with but ordinary
diligence and vigilance on the part of his cowboys to make good Steve's
vow. Therefore, with Barbee in charge of the men here and under
instructions to keep the eyes of trusted night riders always open,
Steve thought to have heard the last of cattle losses.

The steers were to be counted every day if Barbee thought necessary; so
much Steve had said coolly, merely for the emphasis of the words.
Barbee had looked at him curiously, making no rejoinder and going about
his business with a puzzled look on his face.

A week later Barbee reported to Steve down at Ranch Number Ten.

"Five steers gone," he said succinctly, his eyes hard and expectant,
challenging his employer's.

"Gone?" repeated Steve. "Where? And when?"

"I don't know," replied Barbee. "I missed 'em four days ago. I
wouldn't believe they'd gone for good. I didn't see how they could of
gone. I've looked for 'em ever since; I've rode into an' out of every
canon an' pass; I've been everywhere they could go. But--they're gone.
Five big steers."

For a moment their eyes, Steve's as hard as Barbee's, held steady and
unwinking in a deeply probing gaze.

"Barbee," said Steve after a little, "remember the night Blenham tried
to bribe you with a thousand-dollar bill?"

Barbee flushed and nodded.

"I get you," he said quietly. "Think he's bought me up, maybe?"

"I don't know what to think. But this much is clear; If you are on the
level it's up to you to see that I don't lose any more stock. And it's
also up to you to find where those five steers went. And get them
back. Every single hoof of them."

That night Steve himself spent in Drop Off Valley, a rifle over his
arm. He had ordered his men to carry guns, and if Blenham or another
man were detected driving off his cattle, to shoot and to shoot to kill.

But the next day he ret