e, an' old Al's weakenin'. Beasley will git
the property, girl or no girl," said John.

"Things don't always turn out as they look. But no matter about that.
The girl deal is what riled me.... She's to arrive at Magdalena on
the sixteenth, an' take stage for Snowdrop.... Now what to do? If she
travels on that stage I'll be on it, you bet. But she oughtn't to be in
it at all. ... Boys, somehow I'm goin' to save her. Will you help me? I
reckon I've been in some tight corners for you. Sure, this 's different.
But are you my friends? You know now what Beasley is. An' you're all
lost at the hands of Snake Anson's gang. You've got fast hosses, eyes
for trackin', an' you can handle a rifle. You're the kind of fellows I'd
want in a tight pinch with a bad gang. Will you stand by me or see me go
alone?"

Then John Beeman, silently, and with pale face, gave Dale's hand a
powerful grip, and one by one the other brothers rose to do likewise.
Their eyes flashed with hard glint and a strange bitterness hovered
around their thin lips.

"Milt, mebbe we know what Beasley is better 'n you," said John, at
length. "He ruined my father. He's cheated other Mormons. We boys have
proved to ourselves thet he gets the sheep Anson's gang steals.... An'
drives the herds to Phenix! Our people won't let us accuse Beasley. So
we've suffered in silence. My father always said, let some one else say
the first word against Beasley, an' you've come to us!"

Roy Beeman put a hand on Dale's shoulder. He, perhaps, was the keenest
of the brothers and the one to whom adventure and peril called most.
He had been oftenest with Dale, on many a long trail, and he was the
hardest rider and the most relentless tracker in all that range country.

"An' we're goin' with you," he said, in a strong and rolling voice.

They resumed their seats before the fire. John threw on more wood, and
with a crackling and sparkling the blaze curled up, fanned by the wind.
As twilight deepened into night the moan in the pines increased to a
roar. A pack of coyotes commenced to pierce the air in staccato cries.

The five young men conversed long and earnestly, considering, planning,
rejecting ideas advanced by each. Dale and Roy Beeman suggested most of
what became acceptable to all. Hunters of their type resembled explorers
in slow and deliberate attention to details. What they had to deal with
here was a situation of unlimited possibilities; the horses and outfit
needed; a long