that had cut it, there was naturally an _impasse_, but Tenison and
Carpy aided jointly by the representations of Lefever and Sawdy,
induced Laramie to forego his punitive attitude and accept the amende
as offered. This, as the doctor had predicted, put a pleasanter face
on the tangled affairs of the range. And to strike while their iron
was hot, and to keep it hot, the cattlemen announced a big Fourth of
July celebration, at which old scores should be forgotten and friends
and enemies meet in good-fellowship. The place for it, after much
talk, was fixed at Doubleday's ranch. The saloon-keepers of Sleepy
Cat, except Tenison, fought this, but they lost out.

Since her own home was to be the scene of the celebration, Kate took a
particular interest in the undertaking. She made herself, in a way,
hostess and her father gave her free rein. The eager crowd that
responded to the public invitation found awaiting them, as they
picturesquely rode in twos and threes and groups up the creek to the
ranch house, all the "fixin's" for a rousing celebration. Men came for
as much as fifty miles and some of them by trails and over passes Kate
had never even heard of. There were cattlemen, cowboys, sheepmen,
little ranchers--all the conflicting elements of the country, besides a
crowd from Sleepy Cat with the band, and all the town loafers that
could possibly secure conveyance.

There was for these latter worthies the attraction of a free feed--for
they knew the prodigality of cattlemen; but there was also the
underlying hope that where so discordant elements were assembled a
fight _might_ occur; and nobody wanted to miss a fight. The principals
necessary for a serious affair were present. The fact that all were
armed was not significant, merely prudent. Men careless on this point
were no longer attending celebrations of any sort around Sleepy Cat.

From the Falling Wall came the rustlers, every one of them except
Doubleday's old foreman, Abe Hawk, who scorned all pretense of
compromise. He advised Laramie not to go near the celebration. When
Laramie intimated he might go, Abe was greatly incensed. A master of
bitter sarcasm, he trained his batteries on his sandy-haired friend and
these failing he warned him he would be in serious danger. He
intimated that the scheme was to get the rustlers all together and
finish them in a bunch. In which event, one as hated as Laramie could
hardly hope to escape unmolested. But Larami