Produced by Al Haines. [Illustration: Dust cover art] [Illustration: Cover] Buck Peters, Ranchman Being the Story of What Happened When Buck Peters, Hopalong Cassidy, and Their Bar-20 Associates Went to Montana BY Clarence E. Mulford AND John Wood Clay WITH FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOR BY MAYNARD DIXON SECOND EDITION CHICAGO A. C. McCLURG & CO. 1912 Copyright A. C. McCLURG & CO. 1912 Published March, 1912 Published April, 1912 Entered at Stationers’ Hall, London, England ALSO BY MR. MULFORD HOPALONG CASSIDY. With five illustrations in color by Maynard Dixon. $1.50 THE ORPHAN. With illustrations in color by Allen True. 91.50 BAR-20. Illustrated by N. C. Wyeth and F. E. Schoonover. $1.50 BAR-20 DAYS. With four illustrations in color by Maynard Dixon. $1.35 net A. C. McCLURG & CO., Publishers CHICAGO Contents CHAPTER I Tex Returns II H. Whitby Booth is Shown How III Buck Makes Friends IV The Foreman of the Double Y V "Comin’ Thirty" has Notions VI An Honest Man and a Rogue VII The French Rose VIII Tex Joins the Enemy IX Any Means to an End X Introducing a Parasite XI The Man Outside XII A Hidden Enemy XIII Punctuation as a Fine Art XIV Fighting the Itch XV The Slaughter of the Innocents XVI The Master Mind XVII Hopalong’s Night Ride XVIII Karl to the Rescue XIX The Weak Link XX Misplaced Confidence XXI Pickles Tries to Talk XXII "A Ministering Angel" XXIII Hopalong’s Move XXIV The Rebellion of Cock Murray XXV Mary Receives Company XXVI Hunters and Hunted XXVII Points of the Compass XXVIII The Heart of a Rose Illustrations So she stood, silently regarding him . . . _Frontispiece_ (missing from source book) The rifle belonging to Hopalong never missed—and besides, he had made his wish Rose flung herself from the saddle and ran to him As he spoke he hurled his horse against Hopalong’s, while his right hand flashed to his hip Buck Peters, Ranchman CHAPTER I TEX RETURNS