pposition,
controversy, and retreat. He thereupon led Dave back to the ranch
house, where he prepared and ate dinner with satisfaction. Very likely
Menocal would receive reports that evening faithfully depicting his
chagrin and despair, or whatever were the Mexican equivalents.

Yet while he deluded the banker, he must secretly carry on his actual
surveying on the mesa. Since the men setting fence posts had a fairly
wide view of the plain, he determined to work in the open only for two
or three hours at daybreak before the Mexicans were about. For
Menocal, or any one else, must have no suspicion of his real ditch
line until an application for construction of the project had been
filed in the state engineer's office.

Signs that the banker had taken measures to keep him under
surveillance were not wanting.

"Dave," he said, "have you noticed a sheepherder with a bunch of sheep
hanging around here, when he should be up in the mountains where the
range is good?"

"Yes, I've seen him. And he hasn't a full band, either."

"Looks as if he's grazing down here on the mesa so as to watch us,"
Bryant mused. "When we went north, he and his sheep drifted in that
direction; when we were over on the mountain side, they followed
there. What shall we do about it?"

"I don't see that we can do anything except to watch him, too, and
fool him." The lad took thought for a moment, and then proceeded,
"Somebody was around here yesterday while we were away, for I saw a
brown paper cigarette stub on the ground in front of the door this
morning. You use white papers; it's mostly Mexicans who have those
straw papers."

"Then we had better put an extra nail or two in the windows as a
precaution," Lee stated, "before we go down to Sarita Creek. And I'll
leave Mike here also. If anybody comes fooling around, he'll take a
piece out of the fellow's leg."

In addition to nailing the windows and leaving Mike at the door, much
to his dissatisfaction, Bryant secreted his papers, note-books, and
maps, the theft of which would be an extremely serious loss. Menocal
probably would not instigate open lawlessness, but his hirelings might
break into the house on their own initiative. And this was not
unlikely since a bitter feeling was systematically being aroused
against Bryant and his project among the preponderate Mexican
inhabitants.

But for the time being he dismissed this matter from his thoughts,
when with tripod and rod and a bundle of sta