and Dot is our brand--you can see it
on the ponies," and he showed on the flank of his mount a circle burned
in the hide--a circle in the center of which was a dot. Each ranch owner
brands, with a hot iron, all his cattle, that he may pick out his own
when they mix with another bunch at the grazing. Each ranch has a
different brand, and they consist of simple marks and symbols, each one
being properly registered in case of lawsuits.

"Now then," went on Foreman Pete, "if you're ready we'll start. The boys
will stow away your traps in one of the wagons, and if you'll
distribute yourselves in the other wagons we'll git along. I could have
brought horses for all of you, but I wasn't sure how many could ride."

"Very few of us do, I'm afraid," observed Mr. Pertell.

"But I'm going to learn!" exclaimed Alice, promptly, and this time, when
the eyes were turned toward her, she smiled back at the owners thereof.

"I'll be very pleased to show you how, Miss," declared the foreman, with
a low bow to the girl. Alice blushed, and Ruth looked annoyed; but Mr.
DeVere smiled indulgently. He understood Alice.

Trunks, valises and the various properties Pop Snooks had provided for
the different plays were put in the wagon and then in the other vehicles
the players themselves took their places.

"All ready?" asked Pete Batso.

"All ready," answered Mr. Pertell.

"Let her go!" cried the foreman, and the cavalcade started off to the
whooping and yelling accompaniment of the cowboys, though this time they
did not fire their revolvers.

The pace was fast. In fact, everything out in the West seemed to be
fast. No one walked who could, by any means, get a horse, and the
horses, or cow ponies, seemed to be always on the trot or gallop when
they were not standing still. A slow walk seemed to be the one thing
they could not do. Even the teams attached to the wagons were off at the
same fast pace.

It was a little breathless at first, but the players soon became used to
it, and liked it. The rapid motion made a cooling breeze.

Rocky Ranch was located in a fine part of the country. The land was
rolling, with occasional wide, level stretches. About two miles away was
a timber belt, through which ran a stream of good water, and about eight
miles to the west was a chain of hills, reaching finally into mountains,
with an occasional _mesa_, or flat, table-like, isolated hill.

The ranch owner, Mr. Haladay Norton, possessed many cattle, wh