ly carried him over the ground.

Now that he was away from the confusion of the camp, and had nothing to
distract his mind, Roy gave himself up to thoughts of his father.

"He must be quite sick," he reasoned, "or he never would have sent for
me in such a rush. I wonder if Porter was afraid to tell me the truth?"

For an instant the fear that his father might be dead, and that the
cowboy had not dared to tell him of it, unnerved Roy. Then his natural
braveness came back to him.

"Oh, pshaw! What's the use of thinking such gloomy thoughts," he said
to himself. "Maybe dad only had a little fit of indigestion, like he
had before. I remember then I thought he sure was going to die. But
Porter said it was as much business as anything else. Now what sort of
business could dad have that he would need me in such a hurry?"

Roy did not see any prospect of his questions being answered, at least
until he got to the ranch, and could talk to his father, so he
continued on, urging his pony to a faster gait.

It soon began to get dark, but Roy did not mind this, as he had often
ridden all night when on a round-up. Of course, on such occasions he
had been in company with his father's cowboys. Still, the prospect of
his lonely journey through the darkness did not alarm him.

He knew the trail very well, from having been over it often, and,
though there were occasionally ugly Indians, or unemployed cowboys, to
be met with on the plains, Roy did not imagine he would have any
trouble with them. He was armed, but he hoped he would have no
occasion to draw his revolver.

There were no wild animals, except steers, to be met and these, he
knew, would be in herds under the care of competent men. Besides a
steer rarely attacks a man on a horse.

So Roy rode through the long night. About one o'clock he stopped,
built a little grease-wood fire, and warmed his bacon. Then he munched
that and the bread with a good appetite, drinking some coffee the cook
had given him in a flask.

"I ought to get to the ranch by sun-up," thought the boy, and he was
not mistaken, for, when the golden ball peeped up over the prairies Roy
saw the outbuildings of his father's big cattle farm. A little later
he had ridden up to the ranch house, and dismounted.

"My father! How is he?" he exclaimed, as he saw the cook on the
verandah.

"Better," was the reply, and the boy felt a sense of relief. "Much
better. Come right in and have some hot c