not out herdin' _vacas_, Tex. A fellow kinda
needs a little excitement oncet in a while. I got a hunch we're goin' to
git these birds this time."

"You're the greatest little optimist I ever did see, Jumbo," answered
the Ranger with a smile. "We're goin' to strike a cold trail of men who
know every inch of this country an' are ridin' hell-for-leather to make
a get-away. We're liable to ride our broncs to shadows an' never see
hair or hide of the fellows we want. I'd like to know what license
you've got for yore hunch."

"You're such a lucky guy, Tex. If you was lookin' for a needle in a
haystack you'd find it in yore mouth when you picked up a straw to chew
on."

"Lucky, nothin'. A man makes his own luck, I always did tell you, an' I
haven't bumped into any yet. You don't see any big bunch of fat cows
with my brand on 'em, do you? I'm pluggin' along for a dollar a day with
a promise from Cap Ellison that I'll probably cash in soon with my boots
on. Old Man Luck always hides behind the door when I pass, if there's
any such Santa Claus in the business."

"All the way you look at it. Didn't Clint Wadley offer you the job of
bossin' the best cow-ranch in the Panhandle?"

"An' didn't I have to turn down his offer an' hang on to a dollar-a-day
job?"

"Then you saved Miss 'Mona from that bull an' made a friend of her."

"Yes, an' then I butted in an' kept the Kiowas from mussin' up Art
Ridley, who is liable to ask me to stand up with him when he marries
Miss Ramona," added the Ranger.

"Shucks! She'll never marry Ridley so long as you're runnin' around
unbranded, son."

"A lot you know about girls, Jumbo," said Roberts with a rueful grin. "I
don't know sic' 'em about the things they like. I'm one chaparral-raised
roughneck. That little lady never wasted two thoughts on me. But Art--he
knows a lot about books an' style an' New York's four hundred. He's good
to look at, clean, knows how to talk, an' makes a sure-enough hit with
the girls."

"He's a sissy boy beside you. No Texas girl would look twice--"

"Nothin' a-tall to that. Didn't he save Clint Wadley's life? Didn't he
stay by Dinsmore when the Kiowas had 'em holed? He fought good enough to
get shot up this mo'nin', didn't he? No, sir. You'll find he's got me
backed off the map so far as Miss Ramona goes. I know it, old-timer."

"Where do you get that notion you're a roughneck, Tex?" asked Jumbo.
"You've read more books than any man on the range. You don't h