"I am not certain, of course, but as I said, it is within the series of numbers which we sent. Why do you ask?"

"Because it is a counterfeit."

The president sank down in his chair. He had suddenly become pale, and was trembling like a leaf.

"What will you take for that bill, young man? Name your own price," said Mr. Norcross.

"It is not for sale, and you have not money enough to buy it," replied Ted Strong.

CHAPTER XXI.

A CRIME WITHIN A CRIME.

"Well, friend, have you decided to come out to my ranch, and look my stock over?"

It was Colonel Billings, the genial ranchman, who addressed Ted, meeting him in the lobby of the hotel.

"Yes, I think I will," answered Ted. "When will it be convenient for you to be there?"

"I am going out to-morrow, and will be glad to see you and your friends."

"There are a good many of us," said Ted, laughing.

"The more the merrier. The house is large, and I could drop you all down into it, and the house would hardly know it."

"How do we get out there?"

"I see you have a couple of ladies with you, and I shall telephone over to my manager to send a carriage in for them, and horses for the use of you boys. How many horses and saddles will you need? There are plenty at the ranch."

"We will need eight horses. One of the ladies prefers to ride, and we'll need a gentle pony for the small boy, whose experience is limited."

"Sidesaddle for the lady?"

"No," said Ted, with a grin, "this young lady will not use one. She is a cowgirl, and rides a man's saddle."

"All right, my boy. The outfit will be here in the morning. By the way, I am going to have some other guests. I suppose you will not object."

"Certainly not."

"One of them is a young New Yorker, who has come West to invest in ranch property, and who has brought his sister with him. Charming people. The other is a rather uncouth person, but you will forgive his eccentricities, I am sure. To tell you the truth, he often grates on me, but I overlook it because he has lacked advantages. He made his money in the liquor business, in which he has been all his life. But he is a good fellow at heart, and is my partner in a way, having invested a large sum of money with me in cattle."

"I shall be very glad to meet them, although, I'm afraid I shall not be able to see much of them, as I shall be very busy."

"When you are under my roof, sir, you are as free as if you had been born there. I am glad you and your friends are coming. It does my old heart good to have young people around me. I will see you in the morning, and shall feel honored to escort you to my home."

With this they parted.

"Jolly old chap," said Ted to himself. "I know just how he feels about having a lot of people come to visit him. I like it myself."

Stella had been out for a ride with little d.i.c.k. She had secured a couple of ponies from the stable connected with the hotel, and had given d.i.c.k his first riding lesson.

Ted met them as they were dismounting in front of the hotel.

"Ted, that boy is going to be a second edition of you in the saddle,"

cried Stella enthusiastically. "I never saw such a seat for a kid. Why he takes to a horse like a young duck to water."

"That's good," said Ted. "Do you like to ride, Scrub, I mean d.i.c.k?"

The boy flushed at the name Scrub, but he recovered himself immediately.

"Yes, it's fine," he answered. "I like horses, and they seem to take to me. I'd like to ride a horse all the time."

"Well, you'll have all you want of it when you get out to Moon Valley,"

said Ted. "Would you like to go out again? If you do, go ahead. I guess we can trust you not to break your neck."

The boy smiled and nodded, and climbed into his saddle again, and was off.

"Ted, that boy is going to be a credit to us all," said Stella. "But he must have an education. Although he speaks well and doesn't use much slang, that is, for a boy, he knows absolutely nothing that he hasn't picked up. He must go to school some day, but not now, for he hardly knows his alphabet, and as for other branches of knowledge, why, he doesn't know they exist, and he is as full of superst.i.tion as a Cocopo squaw. Wherever he got his beliefs, I can't imagine."

"All right, Stella, he shall go to school. It doesn't really matter much, that he has never been to school before. He'll learn so fast that he'll make up for lost time, don't fear. That boy has a good head."

"I'm going to teach him myself until he is able to take his place in school with boys of his own age. He's just crazy to learn."

"His early education is up to you. I'm not afraid he will learn anything he shouldn't from you. Go at him slowly and sensibly. Don't try to stuff it all into him at once. Meanwhile, I'll teach him to ride, shoot, herd, rope, and all that, occasionally impressing upon him the cardinal principles of the broncho boys--truth, honesty, sincerity, courage, and kindness."

"He'll be a fine fellow some of these days, Ted, and a good-looking and good-tempered one."

"I think he will. Suppose we take a little walk, if you have nothing better to do. I want to get your opinion on some matters."

"The very thing. I saw a pretty little park on the bank of a river.

We'll walk there."

"I have promised to go out to Colonel Billings' ranch to-morrow, and I took the liberty of accepting the invitation for you all, as there is nothing to do around here, and I have a hunch that something good will come of it."

"I'll be glad to go. You know how much I like the town. I wouldn't care if I never saw one again."

"It's all right, then. We'll start in the morning. I am more than anxious to go now, especially as Billings tells me he has invited several other people to be his guests."

"Who are they?"

"You remember the girl who slipped the note into my pocket in the St.

Louis station, and the young fellow with the pointed beard. Well, I saw them both in town this morning. The girl ran away from me on the street, jumped into a carriage, and drove away."

"There's nothing about you to cause a girl to run." Stella looked up at Ted in a teasing way.