That little compact bunch disintegrated like quicksilver. Two stumbled
over; the others leaped out, and all yelled in pain and terror. Then the
fallen ones scrambled up and began to hobble and limp and jerk along
after their comrades.

Before the four of them got out of sight they had ceased their yells,
but were moving slowly, hanging on to one another in a way that
satisfied us they would be lame for many a day.

Next morning at breakfast Dick regaled me with an elaborate story about
how the Ranger had turned the tables on the jokers. Evidently in a night
the whole town knew it.

Probably a desperate stand of Steele's even to the extreme of killing
men, could not have educated these crude natives so quickly into the
realization that the Ranger was not to be fooled with.

That morning I went for a ride with the girls, and both had heard
something and wanted to know everything. I had become a news-carrier,
and Miss Sampson never thought of questioning me in regard to my fund of
information.

She showed more than curiosity. The account I gave of the jail affair
amused her and made Sally laugh heartily.

Diane questioned me also about a rumor that had come to her concerning
George Wright.

He had wounded himself with a gun, it seemed, and though not seriously
injured, was not able to go about. He had not been up to the ranch for