e wall--the sign of Western etiquette.

In those days, and earlier, if a man rode by at meal-time or evening he
was your guest. He might take dinner with his hat on, and get his knife
and fork mixed, but if he hung up his belt and revolver he was satisfied
that all the amenities had been observed, whether you thought so or not.

The one other unspoken law was that every man's business was his own
business and no questions were allowed. You might be entertaining a real
bad man like Billy the Kid, and you might suspect his identity, but you
never made inquiries, and for three reasons.

The first was, that it was bad plains etiquette; the second, that if you
were mistaken and accused the wrong man, punishment was sure and swift;
and the third was, that if you were right the punishment was still surer
and swifter, for an escaping criminal never left any but mute witnesses
behind him.

Looking at these ten indications of good-will along the bunk-house wall,
Stelton's alarm was once more lulled. Perhaps the men had all gone for a
paddle in the stream before breakfast, he thought. If so, they would take
care of themselves, and turn up when the big bell rang. He couldn't waste
any more time this way.

Now to relieve the man who was guarding Larkin outside the window.

He hurried around the house and came upon the prone figure of a
cow-puncher, rolled close against the house. The man's head was bloody,
his hands were tied behind him, and his neckerchief had been stuffed into
his mouth and held there by another. He was half-dead when Stelton, with a
cry of surprise, bent over him and loosened his bonds.

With a prolonged yell the foreman brought all hands running to him and,
giving the hurt man into the care of a couple of them, ran along the
house to Bud's window. The bent bars showed how the bird had flown.
Stelton was about to give way to his fury when another cry from the rear
of the cook-house told of the discovery of the second watchman's body,
that had lain hidden in the long grass which grew up against the walls.

Then didn't Stelton curse! Never had he been so moved to profane
eloquence, and never did he give such rein to it. He cursed everything in
sight, beginning with the ranch house; and he took that from chimney to
cellar, up and down every line and angle, around the corners and out to
the barn. Then he began on the barn and wound up with the corral. The
cowboys listened in admiration and delight, interjectin