nsciously parroting the sentiment Burns had just been
instilling into him.

"That's right, sir. If that ain't horse sense I don't know any. You got
a head on you, all right," answered the admiring sheriff.

The flattered Reddy pleaded guilty to being wiser than most men. "Jest
because I punch cows ain't any reason why I'm anybody's fool. I'll show
them smart boys at the Lazy D I don't have to take the dust of any of
the bunch when it comes to using my think tank."

"I would," sympathized Burns. "You bet they'll all be almighty jealous
when they learn how you was chosen out of the whole outfit on this job."

All day they rode, and that night camped a few miles from the Lazy D.
Early next morning they hailed a solitary rider as he passed. The man
turned out to be a cowman, with a small ranch not far from the one owned
by Miss Messiter.

"Hello, Henderson! y'u seen anything of Jim McWilliams and another
fellow riding acrost this way?" asked Reddy.

"Nope," answered the cowman promptly. But immediately he modified his
statement to add that he had seen two men riding toward Dry Creek a
couple of hours ago. "They was going kinder slow. Looked to me sorter
like one of them was hurt and the other was helping him out," he
volunteered.

The sheriff looked significantly at one of his men and nodded.

"You didn't recognize the horses, I reckon?"

"Come to think of it, one of the ponies did look like Jim's roan. What's
up, boys? Anything doing?"

"Nothing particular. We want to see Jim, that's all. So long."

What Henderson had guessed was the truth. The continuous hard riding had
been too much for Bannister and his wound had opened anew. They were at
the time only a few miles from a shack on Dry Creek, where the Lazy D
punchers sometimes put up. McWilliams had attended the wound as best
he could, and after a few hours' rest had headed for the cabin in the
hills. They were compelled to travel very slowly, since the motion kept
the sheepman's wound continually bleeding. But about noon they reached
the refuge they had been seeking and Bannister lay down on the bunk
with their saddle blankets under him. He soon fell asleep, and Mac took
advantage of this to set out on a foraging expedition to a ranch not
far distant. Here he got some bread, bacon, milk and eggs from a man he
could trust and returned to his friend.

It was dark by the time he reached the cabin. He dismounted, and with
his arms full of provisions pushed int