the valley directly toward the herd, keeping in the tangled growth that
featured the sloping sides of the great hollow. They were adept at this
work, and they moved like shadows until they reached the wide floor of
the valley.

Then, spreading out, fanwise, a number of them swinging far around the
herd so that they approached it from the west, they closed in.

There was no longer any attempt at concealment. A shot from Slade's
pistol was the signal for a violent dash that instantly set the big herd
in motion. As the attack came from the west the cattle moved eastward,
bleating and bellowing with surprise. They moved slowly at first, as
though confused by the suddenness of the rush--milling in bewilderment;
detached numbers dashing here and there in wild affright.

Concerted movement came when the strange horsemen began to flank them.
Eastward there was open ground, with no dashing, shooting men to bar
their progress, and eastward they went, a dark mass that moved with
exceeding swiftness straight up the valley.

The few cowboys who had been riding night herd made a feeble, astonished
resistance. There were several shots, frenzied cries of rage and pain;
and then nothing but the thunderous rumble of hoofs; the shouts of the
driving rustlers; scattered shots and the clashing of horns. A vast
dust cloud ballooned above the herd; and five riderless Circle L horses
trotted aimlessly about, snorting with fright.

The big herd had gone with the suddenness of a cyclone. It went,
rumbling up the valley, the dust cloud hovering over it, blotting out
its movements. It roared past the Circle L bunkhouses, leaving behind it
a number of Circle L cowboys who had been awakened by the thunderous
noise. The Circle L men had plunged outside in various stages of
undress--all bootless, unprepared, amazed, and profane.

"Stampede!" yelled a hoarse voice.

"Stampede--hell!" shouted another. "It's rustlers! That damn Antrim
bunch!"

This was Shorty. The lithe giant had rushed out of the bunkhouse as the
herd thundered past. He was now running back toward the bunkhouse,
trying to tighten the waistband of his trousers with a belt whose
buckleless end persisted in eluding his grasp.

His words had spurred the other men to frenzied action. There was
confusion in the bunkhouse where men collided with their fellows as they
plunged about for discarded garments, gun-belts, and boots. But soon
they began to straggle out of the door in twos an