yuh ever think I'm a vassal!"

"Mutiny is strictly prohibited!" he thundered. "Villains, beware!
Gadzooks--er--let's have a swim before the wagons come!"

They laughed and made for the creek, feeling rather crestfallen and a bit
puzzled.

"If I had an outfit like this to run, and a three hundred-mile drive to
make," Bob Nevin remarked to the Silent One, "blessed if I'd make a josh of
it! I'd cultivate the corrugated brow and the stiff spine--me!"

"My friend," the Silent One responded, "don't be too hasty in your
judgment. It's because the corrugated brow will come later that he laughs
now. You'll presently find yourself accomplishing the impossible in
obedience to the flicker of Rowdy Vaughan's eyelids. Man, did you never
observe the set of his head, and the look of his eye? Rowdy Vaughan will get
more out of this crowd than any man ever did; and if he fails, he'll fail
with the band playing 'Hot Time.'"

"Maybe so," Bob admitted, not quite convinced; "but I wonder if he realizes
what he's up against." At which the Silent One only smiled queerly as he
splashed into the water.

After dinner Rowdy caught up the blue roan, which was his favorite for a
hard ride--he seemed to have forgotten his speech concerning
"flunkies"--and rode away up the coulee which had brought them into the
field the night before. The boys watched him go, speculated a lot, and went
to sleep as the best way of putting in the afternoon.