ne."

"I can do it better'n Dad, and him not a lookin' for them."

Slipping the bridle from the sorrel, he turned the animal loose,
and, removing his coat and hat, laid them with the saddle. Then to
the girl on the pony he said sharply, "Go on, Sammy. Why don't you
go on? Don't you see how you're losin' time? Them devils will do
for Dad Howitt like they done for old man Lewis. Your father's the
only man can stop 'em now. Ride hard, girl, and tell Jim to hurry.
And--and, good-by, Sammy." As he finished, he spoke to her horse
and struck him such a blow that the animal sprang away.

For a moment Sammy attempted to pull up her startled pony. Then
Young Matt saw her lean forward in the saddle, and urge the little
horse to even greater speed. As they disappeared down the road,
the giant turned and ran crashing through the brush down the steep
side of the mountain. There was no path to follow. And with deep
ravines to cross, rocky bluffs to descend or scale, and, in
places, wild tangles of vines and brush and fallen trees, the trip
before him would have been a hard one even in the full light of
day. At night, it was almost impossible, and he must go like a
buck with the dogs in full cry.

When Sammy came in sight of her home, she began calling to her
father, and, as the almost exhausted horse dashed up to the big
gate, the door of the cabin opened, and Jim came running out.
Lifting his daughter from the trembling pony, he helped her into
the house, where she sobbed out her message.

At the first word, "Wash Gibbs," Jim reached for a cartridge belt,
and, by the time Sammy had finished, he had taken his Winchester
from its brackets over the fireplace. Slipping a bridle on his
horse that was feeding in the yard, he sprang upon the animal's
back without waiting for a saddle. "Stay in the cabin, girl, put
out the light, and don't open the door until I come," he said and
he was gone.

As Sammy turned back into the house, from away down in Mutton
Hollow, on the night wind, came the sound of guns.

CHAPTER XVII.

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE RANCH.

It was after midnight when Mr. Howitt was rudely awakened. The
bright moon shining through the windows lit up the interior of the
cabin and he easily recognized Young Matt standing by the bed,
with Pete, who was sleeping at the ranch that night, near by.

"Why, Matt, what is the matter?" exclaimed the shepherd, sitting
up. He could not see that the big fellow's clothing was