no place for Mary V to be
riding around by herself."

"It's a wonder he wouldn't of woke up to that fact before," Bud grumbled
to Aleck, while he went limping to the corral. "If she was a girl uh
mine, she'd be home with her maw, where she belongs!"

"Rustlers--that sounds like greasers had been at work here. Runnin'
hawses acrost the line. For Lord sake, git a faster wiggle on than that
limp, Bud! If that poor little kid meets up with a bunch of them damn
renegades--"

Bud swore and increased his pace in spite of the pain. Others were before
him. Already Tex had his loop over the head of a speedy horse, and was
leading it toward his saddle. Curley, the quickest of them all, was
giving frantic tugs to his latigo. Bill was in the saddle ready to direct
the search, and Sudden was standing by his car, wondering whether it
would be possible to negotiate that rough country to the eastward with
a "mechanical bronk."

Nothing much was said. You would have thought, to look at them, that
they were merely in a hurry to get back to the work. Nevertheless, if it
should happen that Mary V was being annoyed or in any danger, it would go
hard with the miscreants if the Rolling R boys once came within sight of
them.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

LUCK TURNS TRAITOR

Johnny Jewel, carrying the propeller balanced on his shoulder and his
rifle in the other hand--and perspiring freely with the task--came
hurrying through the sage brush, following the faint trail his own eager
feet had worn in the sand. His eyes were turned frowning upon the ground,
his lips were set together in the line of stubbornness.

He tilted the propeller against the adobe wall of the cabin, and went in
without noticing that the door was open instead of closed as he had left
it. He was at the telephone when Sudden stepped in after him. Johnny
looked over his shoulder with wide, startled eyes.

"Oh. I was just going to call up the ranch," he said with the brusqueness
of a man whose mind is concentrated on one thing.

"What you want of the ranch?" Sudden's tone was noncommittal. Here was
the fellow that had caused all this trouble and worry and loss. Sudden
meant to deal with him as he deserved, but that did not mean he would fly
into a passion and handicap his judgment.

"I want the boys, if you can get hold of them. I've located the ranch
where they've been taking those horses to that they stole. There's some
there now--or there was. I went down and let d