nearest pine, but they found the ranger so very much on the spot that
they reconsidered.

"He's my prisoner, gentlemen. I came in here and took him-- that is,
with the help of my friend Siegfried. I reckon if you mill it over a
spell, you'll find you don't want him half as bad as we do," he said
mildly.

"What's the matter with all of us going in on this thing, lieutenant?"
proposed Yorky.

"I never did see such a fellow for necktie parties as you are, Yorky.
Not three weeks ago, you was invitin' me to be chief mourner at one of
your little affairs, and your friend Johnson was to be master of
ceremonies. Now you've got the parts reversed. No, I reckon we'll have
to disappoint you this trip."

"What are you going to do with him?" asked Yorky, with plain
dissatisfaction.

"I'm going to take him down to Gimlet Butte. Arizona and Wyoming and
Texas will have to scrap it out for him there." "When, you get him
there," Yorky said significantly.

"Yes, when I get him there," answered the Texan blandly, carefully
oblivious of the other's implication.

The moon was beginning to show itself over a hill before the Texan and
Siegfried took the road with their captive. Fraser had carelessly let
drop a remark to the effect that they would spend the night at the