u went away
and all that. We got everything cleaned up and I thought we could take
a little time off to practice for the rodeo."

"Oh, sure! That's all right!" Mr. Merkel hastened to say. "I wasn't
finding any fault with your bare-back riding. But what I wanted to say
was that I've got a new job for you boys and if you take it on, which I
hope you'll do, you won't have any time for a rodeo."

"A new job!" cried Nort, eagerly.

"Anything to do with Chinese smuggling?" asked Dick.

"No, I'm glad to say it hasn't," went on the owner of Diamond X. "This
is right in the line of your regular work."

"Then you bought the new ranch; did you, Dad?" asked Bud, for his
father had been away about a week on a mission known only to the
immediate family, but which was now stated by his son.

"Yes," Mr. Merkel slowly replied, "I took over Dot and Dash, and if
everything here at Diamond X and in Happy Valley is in as good shape as
you boys seem to think, why, I'm going to send you there."

"Send us where?" Bud wanted to know.

"To the new ranch--Dot and Dash is its cattle brand--to get it in shape
before winter sets in. You don't mind; do you?"

"Mind!" joyously cried Bud. "Sure not!"

"That's good news!" commented Nort.

"Right-o!" sang out his brother. "Things were getting slow around
here, and if we didn't have the coming rodeo to think about----"

"Well, then if you're willing to take charge of Dot and Dash for a
while you can pass up the rodeo," chuckled Mr. Merkel. "Not but what
you won't have more excitement, maybe, than if you did try bulldogging
and bare-back riding," he added to his son. "Only it will be sort of
different, and your stunts will be doing some good instead of just
endangering your necks."

"Aw, there wasn't any danger," murmured Bud.

"No!" chuckled Snake Purdee. "The dust is pretty soft to fall on," and
his point was illustrated as Bud began whipping some of the accumulated
soil from his chaps.

"Well, that's what I came out to tell you, the news about buying Dot
and Dash," concluded Mr. Merkel.

"That's good news for us!" declared Nort. "It will give Dick and me a
chance to show how much we have learned about cow punching since we
came here."

"Sure, it's good news all right," echoed Dick.

And then Old Billee Dobb struck in with a few remarks which, most
distinctly, were in the category of bad news. For the veteran puncher
said:

"Excuse me, Boss," and he looked at Mr. Mer