"Did I get him?" was the first question he asked, at which the stockman
laughed heartily and patted him on the back.

"Spoken like a true sportsman, I declare! How about it, Reddy?" he said.

"There's his game, sir, lying just at the foot of that old slide. It was
as neat a shot as I ever saw," declared the young cowboy, pointing.

"Which is the truth, old fellow!" exclaimed Jerry, seizing Frank's hand
and wringing it warmly, without a touch of jealousy, even though his own
laurels as the admitted best shot of the club seemed in jeopardy.

"But what a pity we can't get it! I hate to think of killing game and
leaving it for the wolves," said Frank.

"Oh, that's soon remedied. Reddy will promise to land that sheep here
for you in double-quick order, eh?"

Reddy was already fastening one end of his lariat to a projecting stone
that resembled a saddle-horn. This done, he tried it, to make sure that
it would hold. Then he tossed the balance of the rope, loop and all,
over the edge.

"Does it reach down?" asked Mr. Mabie.

"Just gets there, and no more," replied Will, craning his neck to see.

Reddy flung himself over in what struck Will as a most reckless fashion;
but he discovered in time that these free riders of the ranches do
everything in that nervous manner. It is a country where men quickly