would occasion the use of cartridges. The idea did not displease
him. They drove to town, bought some provisions and ammunition, and
incidentally the old man visited the sheriff and retailed the
conversation that Pete had overheard.

"Bluff!" said the sheriff, whose office depended upon the vote of the
cattlemen. "Just bluff, Annersley. You hang on to what you got and
they won't be no trouble. I know just how far those boys will go."

"Well, I don't," said Annersley. "So I was jest puttin' what you call
bluff on record, case anything happened."

The sheriff, secretly in league with the cattlemen to crowd Annersley
off the range, took occasion to suggest to the T-Bar-T foreman that the
old man was getting cold feet--which was a mistake, for Annersley had
simply wished to keep within the law and avoid trouble if possible.
Thus it happened that Annersley brought upon himself the very trouble
that he had honorably tried to avoid. Let the most courageous man even
seem to turn and run and how soon his enemies will take up the chase!

But nothing happened that summer, and it was not until the following
spring that the T-Bar-T outfit gave any hint of their real intent. The
anonymous letter was a vile screed--because it was anonymous and also
because it threatened, in innuendo, to burn out a homestead held by one
man and a boy.

Annersley showed the letter to Pete and helped him spell it out. Then
he explained gravely his own status as a homesteader, the law which
allowed him to fence the water, and the labor which had made the land
his. It was typical of Young Pete that when a real hazard threatened
he never said much. In this instance the boy did not know just what to
do. That evening Annersley missed him and called, "What you doin',
pardner?"

From the cabin--Annersley, as usual, was seated outside, smoking--came
the reply: "Countin' my cartridges."

Annersley knew that the anonymous letter would be followed by some
hostile act if he did not vacate the homestead. He wasted no time
worrying as to what might happen--but he did worry about Young Pete.
If the cattlemen raided his place, it would be impossible to keep that
young and ambitious fire-eater out of harm's way. So the old man
planned to take Pete to Concho the next morning and leave him with the
storekeeper until the difficulty should be solved, one way or the other.

This time they did not drive to Concho, but saddled up and rode down
the hill t