saddle and take
refuge behind the horse he was riding.

The rangers and the soldiers reached Bear Cat long after dark. Dud and
Reeves had ridden into town ahead of their companions, so that when the
rest came in they found a hot supper waiting for them on the plaza.

June helped serve the weary men. Big fires had been built on the square
and by the light of the flames Bob could see her slim figure flitting to
and fro. Afterward, when the meal was at an end, he saw Dud Hollister
walking beside her to the hotel. The cowpuncher was carrying a load of
dishes and supplies. It would have surprised Bob to learn that he was the
subject of their conversation.

For the first time Dud had heard that day from Blister the story of the
mad dog episode. He made June tell it to him again from her viewpoint.
When she had finished he asked her a question.

"Anybody ever tell you about the fight Bob had with Bandy Walker?"

The light in her dark eyes quickened. "Did they have a fight?" she asked
evenly, with not too great a show of interest.

"I dunno as you could rightly call it a fight," Dud drawled. "Bob he
hammered Bandy, tromped on him, chewed him up, an' spit him out. He was
plumb active for about five minutes."

"What was the trouble?"

"Bandy's one o' these mean bullies. He figured he could run on Bob. The
boy took it meek an' humble for a week or so before he settled with Bandy
generous an' handsome. The bow-legged guy might have got away with it if
he hadn't made a mistake."

"A mistake?" repeated June.

"He had a few remarks to make about a young lady Bob knew."

June said nothing. In the darkness Dud made out only the dusky outline of
her profile. He could not tell what she was thinking, had no guess that
her blood was racing tumultuously, that a lump was swelling in the soft
round throat.

Presently she asked her companion a question as to how Jake Houck came to
be with the rangers. Dud understood that the subject was changed.

The soldiers found beds wherever they could. Some rolled up in their
blankets near the fires. Others burrowed into haystacks on the meadow.
Before daybreak they expected to be on the march again.

The bugle wakened them at dawn, but a good many of the cowpunchers were
already up. Big Bill went to one of the haystacks to get feed for his
horse. He gathered a great armful of hay and started away with it. A
muffled voice inside wailed protest.

"Lemme out, doggone it."

Bill dropped t