As soon as he was sure he was alone, the leader of the raiders walked out on the plains, paused, wet his finger in his mouth, then raised his hand above his head. "Great! I'm sure playing in luck," he muttered to himself. "The wind is blowing from the west--straight out across the plains." And chuckling grimly, the cattle thief returned to the fire to await the horses. Mounting quickly when they arrived, Megget gave a curt order for his own men to follow and galloped in the same direction the ranch owners and cowboys had taken. At the end of a quarter of a mile he drew rein and again went through the performance of wetting his finger and raising it above his head, murmuring more to himself than his pals: "I didn't know but that the hills might have changed the direction of the wind. "Here, you," he added, turning to his men, "two of you ride a mile up and Squinty and I'll ride south. When I give the call, fire the grass and then ride for the trail and drive the cattle to the mine. I'll cut across and warn Vasquez and the others." CHAPTER XX THE PRAIRIE FIRE As his men heard the words and realized their significance, they glanced at their leader and then at one another. Yet none of them moved. "Are you deaf?" roared Megget. "Do as I say--and lively. Squinty, come with me." And clapping spurs to his pony, he dashed southward. Fearing to disobey, the two raiders delegated to ride to the north started. But as soon as they were out of earshot one of them said: "Megget can fire the prairie if he wants to, I won't. I'm none too stuck on cattle raiding, anyhow, but when it comes to starting a fire that will probably wipe out the Half-Moon outfit and perhaps even the herd, Bobby Lawrence balks!" "Showing the white feather, eh?" snarled his companion. "I warned Gus you wasn't any good, but he wouldn't believe me. You'll do what he says, though, as long as you're with Red Ike!" Red Ike was a giant in strength, the bully of the gang, and Lawrence had seen too much of him to care to risk an encounter with him, so with a growl he said: "All right. Lead the way." "Not much. I'll ride beside you, so you won't come any tricks." But though Lawrence had appeared to yield, it was only as a matter of policy, and his determination not to fire the prairie was as firm as before. Yet how he could prevent it, he was at a loss to determine until suddenly he remembered that Red Ike had asked him for a match that afternoon. As the thought flashed through his mind that his companion had no means for carrying out Megget's instructions Lawrence put his hand to his belt, where he carried his tobacco outfit, and quickly unloosening it, let it fall into the grass. None too soon was his action, for even as he opened his hand to let go of the pouch that held his pipe, tobacco and cigarette papers Red Ike snapped: