_"What are you doing here?" the man demanded_]

"Waiting to be rescued," Rick said on impulse.

"Reckon that can be arranged. You drove in, hey? But you didn't drive
into town. Instead, you parked in the wash. Now, as sheriff, I find that
mighty interesting. You wouldn't have parked there unless you didn't
want to be seen. Only I suspect you were seen, and whoever did the
seein' walked off with your distributor cap and rotor. Unless you have
'em, which I doubt. If you had 'em you wouldn't need rescuin'. Correct?"

"You're telling it," Rick replied courteously.

"Yep. Also, you're from Scarlet Lake, and you're nosy. Day before
yesterday you got nosy at Careless Mesa and nearly got pinked. Are you
busybodies, or have you got a right to snoop?"

Rick stared at the man. He had a strong suspicion they were looking at
the mysterious rifleman. Since the man hadn't come into Steamboat by
car, he must have come by horseback. The rifleman had departed from
Careless Mesa by horseback, too.

Scotty spoke up, in response to the man's question. "You might say we're
busybodies. We're curious about everything."

"Uh-uh. Toss me your badges."

Rick's eyes met Scotty's. He shrugged. There was no reason for not
complying. Both boys detached their badges and tossed them across the
floor. The man picked them up, examined them closely, then tossed them
back.

"All right. Come on with me and we'll have some breakfast." He tucked
the rifle under his arm, turned, and walked out. As the boys followed,
they cast puzzled looks at each other. The man led them to the cache
Scotty had found. A saddled horse was standing in front of the house.

"I've seen that horse before," Scotty said. "It was nice of you to wave
at me up at Careless Mesa."

The man grinned.

Rick asked bluntly, "Why did you shoot at us?"

Twinkling blue eyes surveyed him. "Didn't. If I'd shot at you I'd have
scored a few hits."

"You were warning us off," Scotty said. "Were we getting too close to
something?"

The man tilted his hat back and chuckled. "Mighty curious pair, I'd say.
No, son. But if you stayed around, I wouldn't get close to what I wanted
to get close to. What's more, I figgered you weren't just tourists. You
had a purpose in being at Careless Mesa. Your actions told me that, and
I didn't want you there."

"We might have reported the shooting," Rick said carefully. "You could
have gotten into trouble. Why didn't you just ask us to leave?"

"That