Barns were not always to be found on cattle ranches, for it had usually been the habit of cattlemen to let their herds shift the best they could during ordinary winters. Usually there are sheltered nooks on the range where forage may be found with unusual efforts by the stock. But George Rockford, Lanky Wallace's deceased uncle and the late owner of these hundreds of acres, had a mind of his own. He was not to be governed by what had been good enough for his predecessors. So he had built a big barn, though lumber was difficult to secure and had to be brought many miles, even from the mountain gorges. In this barn he always kept a certain amount of hay and straw, for emergencies, he explained to the scoffers. Several times during his occupancy of the place his forethought had been rewarded. When an unusually severe winter rolled around, during which stock out on the ranges suffered grievous losses through deep snows and blustering blizzards, that reserve stock of feed had saved the Rockspur herd from much privation. Lanky could see some of the cowboys bringing up a hose that was attached to the tank of water meant for household use. The stock were driven to a never-failing creek about two miles away for watering, or, if they were loose on the range, they found their way there by themselves. In his excitement Lanky made a dive for a bucket, and then gasped in dismay when a furious burst of angry looking flame darted out from a crack in the side of the barn, for all the world like the tongue of some gigantic serpent. "Oh, Frank! what can we do?" he moaned. Even as he said these words he realized that Frank was no longer at his side. Some instinct caused Lanky to turn his anxious gaze once more on the doomed barn. Knowing Frank Allen as well as he did, he understood what the other would be doing about that time. "He's gone--right inside--and I've got to follow my leader!" Lanky would have dashed blindly forward and despite the peril involved enter the door where that choking smoke was pouring forth, only that his father caught hold of him just in time. Mr. Wallace, on learning that his wife and Minnie had been seen entering the barn some time before fire was discovered, had become greatly alarmed and had tried to go in after them, only to be driven back by the fierce flames. Now he would not listen for a moment the wild plea of Lanky to be allowed to follow Frank. "I should have stopped Frank, too," said the gentleman, in a quivering voice, "had I guessed what he meant to do when I saw him running forward and taking off his coat. If he is lost it will be terrible! And your mother, too! The boys have already done everything possible for human strength and skill to accomplish. We can only pray they may all be spared." "Zander Forbes is in there too, they say," blubbered the badly shaken Lanky.