"Yes, this is livin'--that's what it is," agreed Pocus Pete." You can make
them out a little better now, Dave," and he nodded his head in the
direction of the two distant specks. They were much larger now.

"It's a chap on a horse, and he's going in the same direction we are,"
Dave said, after a moment's observation.

"That's right. And it ain't every cowpuncher on Bar U who could have told
that."

"I can see two--three--why, there are half a dozen cattle up there Pete."

"Yes, an' probably more. I reckon some of th' Centre O outfit has strayed,
same as ours. That's probably one of Molick's men after his brand," Pete
went on.

The Bar U ranch (so called because the cattle from it were branded with a
large U with a straight mark across the middle) adjoined, on the north,
the ranch of Jason Molick, whose cattle were marked with a large O in the
centre of which was a single dot, and his brand consequently, was known as
Centre O.

"Maybe that's Len," suggested Dave, naming the son of the adjoining ranch
owner.

"It may be. I'd just as soon it wouldn't be, though. Len doesn't always
know how to keep a civil tongue in his head."

"That's right, Pete. I haven't much use for Len myself."