ontinued to come until there
were twenty-seven of them. Later in the day came the wagon and the
remuda.

From a period of calm and inaction the ranch now awoke to life and
movement. The bunkhouse was scrubbed;--"swabbed" in the vernacular of
the cowboys; the scant bedding was "cured" in the white sunlight; and
the cook was adjured to extend himself in the preparation of "chuck"
(meaning food) to repay the men for the lack of good things during a
fortnight on the open range with the wagon.

At dusk on the first day in Rope Jones, a tall, lithe young puncher,
whose spare moments were passed in breaking the wild horses that
occasionally found their way to the Two Diamond, was oiling his saddle
leathers. Sitting on a bench outside the bunkhouse he became aware of
Stafford standing near.

"Leviatt come in?" queried the manager.

The puncher grinned. "Nope. Last I seen of Dave he was hittin' the
breeze toward Bear Flat. Said he'd be in later." He lowered his voice
significantly. "Reckon that Radford girl is botherin' Dave a heap."

Stafford smiled coldly and was about to answer when he saw Ferguson
dropping from his pony at the corral gate. Following Stafford's gaze,
Rope also observed Ferguson. He looked up at Stafford.

"New man?" he questioned.

Stafford nodded. He had invented a plausible story for the presence of
Ferguson. Sooner or later the boys would have noticed the latter's
absence from the outfit. Therefore if he advanced his story now there
would be less conjecture later.

"You boys have got enough to do," he said, still watching Ferguson.
"I've hired this man to look up strays. I reckon he c'n put in a heap
of time at it."

Rope shot a swift glance upward at the manager's back. Then he grinned
furtively. "Two-gun," he observed quietly; "with the bottoms of his
holsters tied down. I reckon your stray-man ain't for to be monkeyed
with."

But Stafford had told his story and knew that within a very little time
Rope would be telling it to the other men. So without answering he
walked toward the ranchhouse. Before he reached it he saw Leviatt
unsaddling at the corral gate.

When Ferguson, with his saddle on his shoulder, on his way to place it
on its accustomed peg in the lean-to adjoining the bunkhouse, passed
Rope, it was by the merest accident that one of the stirrups caught the
cinch buckle of Rope's saddle. Not observing the tangle, Ferguson
continued on his way. He halted when