h a sneer
upon his face, said:

"Very well! You've had your say, and now I'll make my little speech.
You guys come over here and think all you have to do is to tell me to
move out, and you move in. I don't know who you are--never saw you
before. For that matter I don't want to know. You show me some kind
of a paper that you may have written yourselves, and expect me to
accept it as a bill of sale. Well, that's out. I don't go.

"And another thing! I don' know how many men you brought with you, but
I've got twelve here that will stick close to me. So don't start
anything. Good-day, gents!"

It was a moment before Bud and Dick realized the import of what had
just been said. Then, tight-lipped, they started for the door.
Neither said a word as they passed out, and behind them the door
slammed shut.

As they approached the three waiting by the corral they must have shown
by their expressions that things had not gone well, for Nort said:

"What's the trouble, Dick?"

"Let's ride around a bit," spoke the Kid quickly. The rider with the
saw-off shot-gun was still within hearing. "Great weather we're
havin', ain't it? Though it might rain soon," and he looked over to
where the other sat with one leg resting against his saddle horn.

"Not so good, hey?" this cowboy called over. "Come see us again, when
you can stay longer," and he chuckled at his joke.

"We will," answered Nort grimly. "In fact, we intend to----"

"Now do you know, I think it looks a mite like rain myself,"
interrupted Billee Dobb in a musing tone of voice. "Them clouds over
there are pretty heavy. You say you want to ride around a bit, Kid?"

"Yea. Just a little. Let's go, men."

CHAPTER VII

A SHEEPLESS SHEEP RANCH

With as few words as possible Bud told the Kid of their talk with "J.
D." Riding slowly along, the Kid made no comment for several minutes.
Finally Dick burst out:

"For Pete's sake, Kid, let's hear you say something! Don't you think
it's mighty queer behavior for a tenant of a sheep ranch? The way I
understand the facts, he hired the place to raise sheep on, about
thirteen months ago. Now when his year is up he refuses to get off.
There are plenty of other farms further back from the border he could
get. I don't think your father bought the sheep with this ranch, did
he, Bud?"

"I believe he contracted with the owner that one thousand heads of
woolies were to be sent to him within a month of taking