t them around!"

He smiled now for the first time. "I reckon there ain't no way to stop
them from goin', ma'am. An' we sure don't want them around. But when they
go with Chavis, it's mighty likely that we'll miss more cattle."

She stiffened. "Come with me," she ordered; "they shall have their money
right away."

She urged her pony on, and he fell in beside her, keeping his animal's
muzzle near her stirrup. For he was merely an employee and was filled
with respect for her.

"I suppose I could have Chavis charged with stealing those two calves?"
she asked, as they rode. She looked back over her shoulder at him and
slowed her pony down so that he came alongside.

"Why, yes, ma'am, I reckon you could. You could charge him with stealin'
them. But that wouldn't prove it. We ain't got any evidence, you see. We
found the cows, with the calves gone. We know that Chavis is in the
country, but we didn't see him doin' the stealin'; we only think he done
it."

"If I should complain to the sheriff?"

"You could do that, ma'am. But I reckon it's a waste of time."

"How?"

"Well, you see, ma'am, the sheriff in this county don't amount to a
heap--considered as a sheriff. He mostly draws his salary an' keeps out
of trouble, much as he can. There ain't no court in the county nearer
than Las Vegas, an' that's a hundred an' fifty miles from here. An',
mostly, the court don't want to be bothered with hearin' rustler
cases--there bein' no regular law governin' them, an' conviction bein'
hard to get. So the sheriff don't bother."

"But there must be some way to stop them from stealing!" she said
sharply.

"I reckon there's a way, ma'am." And now she heard him laugh, quietly,
and again she turned and looked at him. His face grew grave again,
instantly. "But I reckon you wouldn't approve of it, ma'am," he added.

"I would approve of most any method of stopping them--within reason!" she
declared vindictively, nettled by his tone.

"We mostly hang them, ma'am," he said. "That's a sure way of stoppin'
them."

She shuddered. "Do you mean that you hang them without a court
verdict--on your own responsibility?"

"That's the way, ma'am."

"But doesn't the sheriff punish men who hang others in that manner?" she
went on in tones of horror.

His voice was quietly humorous. "Them sort of hangin's ain't advertised a
heap. It's hard to find anybody that will admit he had a hand in it.
Nobody knows anything about it. But it's done, an'