was kicking
about in the mesquite, looking for his gold.

CHAPTER XIII

DESPERATE MEASURES

Nightfall found the quartet established in the S Bar bunk house. The
joyful thanks of Ma Thomas was enough reward for any of them. She
hadn't expected to see Kid Wolf again, she said, and to have him return
with help was a wonderful surprise.

She was a woman transformed and had taken new heart and courage. The
supper she prepared for them, according to Kid Wolf, was the best he
had eaten since he had left Texas.

All four of them were exceedingly hungry, and they made short work of
Ma Thomas' enchiladas, crisp chicken _tacos_, peppers stuffed, and her
marvelous _menudo_--a Mexican soup.

"With such eats as this," sighed The Kid, "I know the S Bar is saved."

They were gathered now in the long, whitewashed adobe bunk house, and
had finished their sad task of burying Thomas, victim of an assassin's
bullet.

The Kid obtained the bullet that had taken the old rancher's life. It
was a .45 slug, and while the others believed it useless as evidence,
The Kid carefully put it away in his pocket.

"It's hard to say who done it," Fred Wise said doubtfully.

"Yes," The Kid agreed. "I believe Ma Thomas was right when she said
the hand of every one in San Felipe seemed to be raised against her.
How much do yo' suppose the S Bar is wo'th, Anton?"

"Well, with five good springs--two rock tanks and three gravel ones,
she's a first-class layout. The pick of the country. I'd say twenty
thousand."

"The robbers!" muttered Kid Wolf.

"What's on the program?" asked Frank Lathum. "We can't do much
ranchin' without cattle."

"No," admitted The Kid. "We must get those cattle back."

"But who ever heard o' gettin' cattle out o' Old Mexico after they've
once been driven in?" Anton growled. "It can't be done!"

"Money in cattle can't be hid like money in jewels or cash," said The
Kid. "Theah not so easy to get rid of, even in Mexico. The town of
Mariposa lies just over the bordah, am I right? And the only good
cattle lands for a hundred miles are just south of theah, isn't that
so?"

"Yes, but----"

"Men, this is a time fo' desperate measures. We must stake all on one
turn of the cards. Boldness might win. I want yo' hombres to be in
Mariposa the day _pasado_ manana."

"The day after to-morrow!" Wise repeated. "What's yore plan, Kid?"

"I don't know exactly," Kid Wolf admitted. "I make mah plans as I go