steady jog and where the slopes pitched sharply down, it
wound among the rocks with a faultless sureness of foot.

Certainly the choice of Nash was well made. An Eastern horse of blood
over a level course could have covered the same distance in half the
time, but it would have broken down after ten miles of that hard trail.

Dawn came while they wound over the crest of the range, and with the sun
in their faces they took the downgrade. It was well into the morning
before Nash reached Logan. He forced from his eye the contempt which all
cattlemen feel for sheepherders.

"I s'pose you're here askin' after Bard?" began Logan without the
slightest prelude.

"Bard? Who's he?"

Logan considered the other with a sardonic smile.

"Maybe you been ridin' all night jest for fun?"

"If you start usin' your tongue on me, Logan you'll wear out the snapper
on it. I'm on my way to the A Circle Y."

"Listen; I'm all for old man Drew. You know that. Tell me what Bard has
on him?"

"Never heard the name before. Did he rustle a couple of your sheep?"

Logan went on patiently: "I knew something was wrong when Drew was here
yesterday but I didn't think it was as bad as this."

"What did Drew do yesterday?"

"Came up as usual to potter around the old house, I guess, but when he
heard about Bard bein' here he changed his mind sudden and went home."

"That's damn queer. What sort of a lookin' feller is this Bard?"

"I don't suppose you know, eh?" queried Logan ironically. "I don't
suppose the old man described him before you started, maybe?"

"Logan, you poor old hornless maverick, d'you think I'm on somebody's
trail? Don't you know I've been through with that sort of game for a
hell of a while?"

"When rocks turn into ham and eggs I'll trust you, Steve. I'll tell you
what I done to Bard, anyway. Yesterday, after he found that Drew had
been here and gone he seemed sort of upset; tried to keep it from me,
but I'm too much used to judgin' changes of weather to be fooled by any
tenderfoot that ever used school English. Then he hinted around about
learnin' the way to Eldara, because he knows that town is pretty close
to Drew's place, I guess. I told him; sure I did. He should of gone due
west, but I sent him south. There is a south trail, only it takes about
three days to get to Eldara."

"Maybe you think that interests me. It don't."

Logan overlooked this rejoinder, saying: "Is it his scalp you're after?"

"Your ideas are