of Welsh's Butte, as it came to be known. The
first day the punchers had been busy burying the dead and attending to the
numerous things to which such an occasion gives rise. It was on the
morning of this day that Stelton, giving as an excuse his urgent desire to
return to the Bar T, had ridden away, commanding his cowboys to remain and
do their portion of the work.

Late in the afternoon he had met Smithy Caldwell in a secret place, and
given him a note to the leader of the band of rustlers. This Caldwell,
with his usual tricky foresight, did not deliver, giving the message by
word of mouth, and keeping the piece of paper as evidence in case Stelton
should turn against him.

Stelton, anxious to hear how the commencement of the drive fared before
returning to the Bar T ranch, camped in the hills that night, and moved on
to Indian Coulee the next morning to await the messenger.

Just previous to starting on the long ride, Larkin called Sims to him.

"Now, I'll tell you why I want these cows," he said. "We've got to rush
the sheep up the range. As soon as I'm gone start 'em, but surround the
sheep with a line of cows, and keep a good bunch ahead. From a distance
it will look like a cattle-drive, and may serve to throw the punchers off
the track if they're anywhere in sight."

"By Michaeljohn! That's a good idea!" exclaimed Sims; "but I don't allow
either of them will feed much."

"Let 'em starve, then; but keep 'em moving," said Bud. "We win or bust on
this effort. Fact is, we've got to keep those cows anyhow, to return them
to their owners if possible, and you might as well make some good use of
them."

Mike Stelton, meanwhile, who had often used the place as a rendezvous
before, went into the usual shady spot, dropped the reins over his horse's
head, and lay down.

Stelton's heart was at peace, for the sheepmen he considered defeated at
every angle. Jimmie Welsh, half dead and delirious, was on his way to the
Circle Arrow ranch under Billy Speaker's care. Consequently, it was
impossible that Bud Larkin should know anything of the battle at Welsh's
Butte.

Larkin would go on about his plans, dreaming the cowmen still in
captivity, and the pursuing punchers on a false trail, Stelton calculated.
Then he chuckled at the surprise in store for the ambitious sheepmen, for
the remaining cowboys under Beef Bissell had already begun to talk of a
war of extermination and revenge.

When he had disposed of Larkin to his