Rowdy, for the second time, thanked the Lord. But when he was stripping the
pack off Chub's back, ten minutes later, he was thinking many things he
would not have cared to say aloud. It might be all right, but it sure was
strange, he told himself, that Chub belonged here at Rodway's when Harry
Conroy claimed that he was an Oregon horse. Rowdy had thought his account
against Harry Conroy long enough, but it looked now as though another item
must be added to the list. He went in and ate his supper thoughtfully, and
when he got into bed he did not fall asleep within two minutes, as he might
be expected to do. His last conscious thought was not of stolen horses,
however. It was: "And she's Harry Conroy's sister! Now, what do you think of
that? But all the same, she's sure a nice little schoolma'am."



CHAPTER 3

Rowdy Hires a New Boss.

Next morning, after breakfast, Mr. Rodway followed Vaughan out to the
stable, and repeated Bill Brown's question.

"I'd like to know where yuh got this horse," he began, with an apologetic
sort of determination in his tone. "He happens to belong to me. He was run
off with a bunch three years ago, and this is the first trace anybody has
ever got of 'em. I see the brand's been worked. It was a Roman four--that's
my brand; now it looks like a map of Texas; but I'd swear to the
horse--raised him from a colt."

Rowdy had expected something of the sort, and he knew quite well what he was