mostly."

"You thought Bethune might have--have attacked me?"

"I wasn't takin' any chances--not with him, I wasn't. One day, I
thought for a minute he was goin' to try it. It was the day you an'
him et lunch together--when he pretended to be so surprised at runnin'
onto you. I laid behind a rock with a bead draw'd on him. He stopped
just exactly one step this side of hell, that day."

Patty regarded the cowboy thoughtfully: "And Bethune told me he had to
go over onto the east slope to see about some horses. It was after we
had met Pierce, and Bethune asked about Mr. Samuelson and Pierce
snubbed him. I believe Bethune planned that raid. And seeing us
together that day, Pierce jumped to the conclusion that I was in with
him."

"Yes, it was Monk's raid, all right, an' him an' Clendenning got away.
He doped it all out that day. I followed him when he quit you there on
the trail, an' watched him plan out the route they'd take with the
horses. Then I done some plannin' of my own. That's why we was able to
head 'em off so handy. We didn't get Bethune an' Clendenning but I'll
get 'em yet."

They had mounted and were riding toward Samuelson's. "Maybe he's made
his escape across the line," ventured the girl, after a long silence.

Holland shook his head: "No, he ain't across the line. He don't think
we savvy he was in on the raid, an' he'll stick around the hills an'
prob'ly put a crew to work on his claim." He relapsed into silence,
and as they rode side by side, under the cover of her hat brim, Patty
found opportunity to study the lean brown face.

"Where's your gun?" The man asked the question abruptly, without
removing his eyes from the fore-trail.

"I left it home. I only carried it once or twice. It's heavy, and
anyway it was silly to carry it, I don't even know how to fire it, let
alone hit anything."

"If it's too heavy on your belt you can carry it on your saddle horn.
I'll show you how to use it--an' how to shoot where you hold it, too.
Mrs. Samuelson ain't as husky as you are, an' she can wipe a gnat's
eye with a six-gun, either handed. Practice is all it takes, an'----"

"But, why should I carry it? Bethune would hardly dare harm me, and
anyway, now that he thinks he has stolen my secret, he wouldn't have
any object in doing so."

"You're goin' to keep on huntin' your dad's claim, ain't you?"

"Of course I am! And I'll find it, too."

"An', in the meantime, what if Bethune finds out he's been tricked?