But I ain't positive thet they're
ther kind what would rustle. They're jest plain town thieves an'
gamblers. They ain't cow-punchers. It gen'rally is fellers what has been
in ther cow business at some time er another what rustles stock."

"Oh, it doesn't take much of a man to steal cattle. A thieving gambler
could do it as well as another."

"But our brand and ear crop? They shore couldn't get away from them."

"They're not so hard, Bud. A good man could run our stock out of this
part of the country and alter the brand without any trouble."

"Shore, ther brand is not so hard to alter."

"Let's ride back to camp and look at the brand book, and see if any one
has a similar brand to ours, or one that they could alter without
trouble. But, remember, I'm not going to give myself any uneasiness in
the matter, and I think we will find the herd all there. I can't see how
so many cattle as you think could get away from us."

"I do."

"In what manner could they?"

"Well, yer see, thar ain't ary o' us fellers been ridin' herd at night
since Stella was taken away."

"Yes; go on."

"Ther fellers what hev been guardin' ther herd at night we picked up
around here when we drove ther herd up from ther South."

"True. They were all local cow-punchers. I realize that we have made a
mistake. One of us ought to have had charge of every night watch since
we have been on this range."

"Shore. It's a cinch they wouldn't attempt to run 'em off in ther
daytime."

"That's the idea. It would be as easy as shooting fish in a rain barrel
for a crooked night foreman to drift a few cattle away from the herd in
the dark, to be picked up by fellows waiting on the outside, and driven
into the hills until the brands and marks could be changed."

They were at the camp now, and Ted got out the brand book and turned its
leaves over in an attempt to find a brand similar to their own, the
Circle S, which was a circle with the letter S in the center.

In every Western State or Territory in which cattle-raising is a
business the law makes it imperative that every ranchman who uses the
open range shall select a brand for his cattle which is registered. This
brand is his own, and every head of cattle found with his brand on it
belongs to him.

On the open range the cattle get mixed more or less, and in the spring
there is a general round-up of the cattle, after the calves have been
born and are following their mothers.

The cow-punchers go in