Without further parley the boys and men filed from the room and made for the corral. The horses had been tied to a pole nearest the house, and they were not long in reaching them. They could be easily seen in the moonlight which now flooded the prairie.

"Mine's there!" Bud yelled as he came within view of the animals.

"Guess you're wrong, Kid. Seems like there's--no there isn't, either!

Only four! Whose mount is missing?"

"You might know it," the Kid said disgustedly. "The coot took mine--out of all that bunch to pick from, he had to rustle my new bronc! By golly, if ever I set eyes on you again, you old----"

"Take it easy!" laughed Bud. "Could be a lot worse. He might have turned the rest of 'em loose, too."

"No use beefin' about it," said Billee Dobb. "All over now. He's gone--an' so's the Kid's bronc. Talk about it in the morning. Me, I'm tired!"

The night pa.s.sed uneventfully. At sun-up the Kid appeared at the door of Bud's room and grinned in at him.

"Ready for work?" he cried.

"You mean trailin' your horse, Kid?" Bud asked mischievously.

The grin left Yellin' Kid's face and his eyes flashed.

"No," he said shortly. "I'll leave that for later. When I got some time on my hands that I want to use up in enjoyment. Then I'll go after your friend Delton."

"He's no friend of mine," retorted Bud. "But let's not chop about it until after breakfast, anyway. Think that Mexican cook is on the job?"

"Heard him movin' around a while ago, Bud. Let's go down an' see.

Billee is downstairs, and I guess Nort an' d.i.c.k are too."

When they reached the dining room they found the others waiting for them.

"Sleep good, boys?" d.i.c.k asked.

"Sure did. Felt like I'd never wake up. Say, steak this morning!"

Nort cried as he saw the table loaded with food. "We got _some_ cook here!"

"Don't it strike you all kind 'a funny that the Mex has got so much stuff on hand?" Billee Dobb wanted to know. "Course it _might_ be that this Delton feller had just stocked up before we came. Hey, Mex!" he yelled into the kitchen. "_Aqui_! _p.r.o.nto_!"

The Mexican strolled calmly to where the five sat waiting.

"Where you get all this?" Billee pointed to the plates of meat.

The Mexican shrugged his shoulders and motioned toward the kitchen.

"Boss leave it here?"

Another shrug.

"Now listen, Mex. You know what I mean. You nod or shake your head when I ask you questions." Yellin' Kid walked over and stood before the Mexican.

"First, did you work for this guy Delton?"

A nod.

"Then when he beat it, you stayed here, hey?"

A nod.

"Why?"

"He can't answer that with his head, Kid," Nort broke in.

"I know it, but maybe he can tell us by motions. Hey? Why you no go with Delton?"

The Mexican pointed toward himself, then to the kitchen. His hands simulated the job of peeling potatoes. Then he flung both arms wide, and moved his head in a semi-circle, eyes opened as though he were looking for something.

"So he went when you were in the kitchen, hey, an' didn't say nothin'

about it. Well, that sounds logical."

"Kid, for Pete's sake, let's eat!" Bud interrupted. "You did fine--give you a badge as a special detective. All right, Mex, outside. Gee, you certainly are curious, Kid!"

"I just want to know a few things, that's all," Yellin' Kid protested.

"I don't want to get poisoned. Can't tell who that Mex is--for all we know he may be one of Delton's men left here to watch us."

"Say, I was thinking the same thing," d.i.c.k put in. "But his graphic explanation as to why he's here seems to be at least plausible. If, as Billee suggested, Delton cut out when he found there was a price on his head it doesn't seem reasonable that he'd bother taking the cook along.

How about it, Billee?"

"Ain't makin' no statements," the veteran rancher replied slowly.

"Want to think things out a few minutes first."

"Billee's going to solve the great mystery for us!" Nort laughed.

"Never you mind, ole horse, you knew your stuff when you grabbed that bill-head from Hawkins's office. The trouble with us was, we were too slow."

The conversation hit on the topics of the night before as the ranchers made a healthy breakfast. When they had satisfied their hunger Bud leaned back in his chair and said:

"Well, what's on the program this morning, Kid? Beckon you better take charge for a while. Then d.i.c.k can be head boss, and so on--'til we get the sheep in. O. K.?"

"All right with me, Bud," the Kid agreed. "One of us wants to take a ride into town and see about gettin' hold of a sheep-man. I got to get me a pony, too."

"I'll go," offered Nort. "Think I'll look up Hawkins. He might like to know what happened."

The five walked slowly into the yard. The meal seemed to change their ideas, and set them quietly to thinking. Bud was leaning against the side of the ranch house. The Kid strolled over to the corral and looked longingly at the four horses tethered there. Billee Dobb was seated on the steps smoking his pipe, when he noticed a cloud of dust in the distance.

"Rider," he said, more to himself than to the others. "Got a hunch who it is."

The dust cloud grew quickly nearer, and from it emerged the figure of a man on horseback.

"Someone coming," d.i.c.k called.

"Who is it?" Bud asked. From where he stood he was unable to see.