Dick would do their best to find and repair the
break, and Snake and Yellin' Kid would be on guard at Spur Creek. As
Kid had said, there was little danger of the sheep men bringing up
their woolly charges before dark, and after that not much could be done
in the way of crossing the river, if, as Bud had said, there was no
ford at this place, and the danger of quicksands further to keep
unwelcome visitors on the Mexican side of the stream.

"Well, I'll see you when I get back," remarked Nort as he rode off with
a wave of his hand to his brother cousin and the two remaining cowboys.

"Think you'll make it to-night?" asked Dick.

"I don't see why I can't," was the answer. "If there's going to be a
fight in the morning you'll want help here. And if the other boys ride
back from Diamond X I'll be with 'em."

"Oh, the boys will be ridin' back all right, as soon as they hear
there's a prospect of a fight!" chuckled Kid.

"You said it!" added Snake.

Pausing to watch Nort ride off on his mission of carrying news and
summoning help, and taking another look at the still approaching cloud
of dust that betokened the flock of sheep, Bud and Dick rode along the
back trail, following the telephone line.

As has been said, the wire was not cut near the cabin. It could be
seen, a tiny line against the clear, blue sky, stretching its slender
length on top of the poles.

"They were too cute to cut it near the shack. They figured we wouldn't
notice it for a long time, maybe, and they'd have a chance to get up
closer," said Dick.

"You mean the sheep herders?" asked Bud.

"Sure! Who else?" asked his cousin. "You reckon it was them that cut
the wire, don't you?"

"Don't know's I thought much about it, but, now that I have, why, of
course, they did it," Bud agreed. "Unless it was the cattle rustlers,"
he added.

"You mean the ones we just had a fight with?"

"That's who."

"No, I don't reckon they did," Dick remarked. "In the first place we
licked 'em pretty badly. They scattered, I'm sure, and they didn't
head in this direction. And what good would it do 'em just to cut a
wire after we'd gotten the cattle away from 'em?"

"Oh, general meanness, that's all," answered Bud.

"They wouldn't do that out of spite and run the risk of being
caught--not after what happened to 'em," declared Dick, and Bud
answered:

"Well, maybe you're right."

Then they rode along in silence for a while, making sure, as they
progr