he quartette.

"Jim Ferrers will be awfully displeased, you do," drawled Tom.
"Do you know Jim? He has a reputation, I believe, for being
rather sore on folks who shoot up his friends."

"I'll do it for you, anyway, kid!" growled one of the four, leveling
his rifle.

But their leader struck the weapon up angrily just before the
shot barked out.

"Who's having Fourth of July around here?" called a laughing voice
from some distance down the rising path at the rear of the quartette.
The four men turned quickly, but Tom had recognized joyfully
the tones of Harry Hazelton's voice.

"You keep out of here, stranger!" ordered one of the quartette
gruffly.

"Don't you do anything of the sort, Harry!" roared Reade's voice.
"You keep right on an join us."

"Did you hear my advice?" insisted the leader of the four, holding
his rifle as though would throw the butt to his shoulder.

"Yes," said Hazelton, calmly, "but I also heard my senior partner's
order. He and I stick together. Gangway, please."

Harry was cool enough as he rode his horse at a walk past the
men. Hazelton will never understand how near death he was at
that moment. But there had been a few whispered words between
the men, and they had allowed him to ride by.

"What's the game here, Tom?" Harry called cheerily. "Any real
excitement going on?"

"No." Tom shook his head. "Just a little misunderstanding over
a question of fact."

"Then I see that the lie hasn't been passed," grinned Hazelton.
"The ground isn't littered at all."

He rode up to his chum, displaying no curiosity.

That the automobile party had been much cheered by the arrival
of the young engineers was wholly apparent. For the same reason
the four men appeared to be a good deal less certain of themselves.

"I guess there isn't going to be any real trouble," spoke Reade
carelessly. "But there's a question at issue that I feel it would
be impertinent in me to try to settle, so I've sent for Jim Ferrers
to bring over the whole crowd."

Though Harry couldn't imagine where Ferrers's "crowd" was, he wisely
held his tongue.

At the same time an earnest conference was going on among the
four men. They spoke in low whispers.

"Jim Ferrers, alone, we could handle," declared the leader. "But
if Jim has a crowd back of him things won't go our way when it come
to the shooting."

"Let's start it before Ferrers's party gets here," growled another
of the sullen ones.

"We would be